Tipping the Balance
by Khilari
Summary: After the fall of Landis Noah followed his brother to Dalmasca, and on the battlefield at Nabudis his presence saves Rasler's life. With war brewing and plans set into motion early, how far can one man's presence change the course of history? AU.
1. Chapter 1

Nabudis had fallen and with it the last of Nabradia. Noah felt the pangs in his heart even as he was blinded by after images and the shockwaves left him half deafened. Once again my presence was not enough to save… He spurred his chocobo into a gallop as his clearing vision showed that Lord Rasler was again no longer with him. Rasler appeared to have forgotten his bodyguards and was throwing himself into the worst of the fray. Noah had been wounded several times in following him, including one to the knee that left his leg stiff and his boot filled with blood. Basch, even now more cautious, was several yards away. Noah looked back for him and saw that Basch was looking past him, horror in his eyes, his chocobo already launching itself over a downed soldier. Noah followed his gaze, saw the arrow and dug his heels in hard. He threw himself off the chocabo as it landed and had only time to see Rasler's startled face before his shoulder went numb, then burned.

He came around to find himself slumped forward over Rasler's chocabo, Rasler's arm around his waist holding him up. The sounds of battle were distant now and, opening his eyes, he saw they were off the battlefield.

'He wakes,' said Rasler. 'Noah, do you hear me?'

'Thank the gods,' said Basch.

Noah braced himself with his uninjured arm against the chocabo's neck. 'I can hear you. What happened, are you hurt?'

'Nay,' said Rasler. 'You took the arrow meant for me. I should have heeded Basch's council and left sooner, it was already to late to save my home.'

'No. You did what you must, and I would do no less,' said Noah.

'Be that as it may there is no shame in letting one of your own knights defend you,' said Basch. 'Come, the airships are close.'

Noah's leg was tended there as well as his shoulder, Basch turning pale when taking his boot off spilled blood across the floor. Basch was not uninjured himself, although nothing deeper than a flesh wound. They were both quiet afterwards, witnessing the death of a country left them scared for Dalmasca, and Noah at least was thinking of Landis. He had fought for Landis, his homeland, although without Basch by his side. Swallowing his pride in the wake of defeat and going to Rabanastre in search of his brother was the hardest thing he had ever done, except, perhaps, forgiving Basch for leaving. Much as he knew it was irrational part of him still felt that if Basch had been there the Empire would never have taken Landis. With Dalmasca under threat he would have a chance to find out how wrong he was. No, he must not give up. Ashe and Rasler should not feel the pain of losing their home.

Noah was not strong enough to be present during the arrival of Dalmasca's royalty in Nabudis, but Ashe called him to her rooms later in order to thank him. With only Basch present she didn't do it formally, either.

'Ah, Lady Ashe?' he said, blushing as he suddenly found his arms full of her. It wasn't as if this was new, he had lifted her onto her first chocabo, but she was older now. And she never embarrassed Basch this way.

'Thank you,' she said, pulling back. She had a sparkle in her eye that said she'd been teasing him, but her face turned solemn now. 'You saved Rasler's life, and for that I can never repay you.'

'I did my duty, nothing more,' he said. 'And there is nothing I would ask except to see you happy.'

'You have it,' she said.

After a moments silence, Basch spoke. 'Lady Ashe. How do things stand with the Empire? Are we to sign the treaty?'

'A treaty?' Noah's words burst from him. 'With those that take the homelands of others, Lord Rasler's now as well as -'

Ashe silenced him with a raised hand. 'Yes, a treaty. This is my father's will, that we keep our sovereignty at least although it costs us our rights.'

Noah bent his head and said, 'I will not speak ill of his Majesty. My apologies.'

'The King's path is wisely chosen,' said Basch.

'Do you think so?' asked Ashe. Her tone told him that she thought as little of the treaty as he did.

'Yes. Peace is always a wise choice when war tears away so much.'

Ashe bowed her head. 'The cost of peace falls upon my country's pride.'

'Pride will not keep your people alive,' said Basch.

'But it will make their lives worth living!' said Noah. How could Basch not see what this submission would do to their Lady Ashe, as well as a country that would be a Kingdom in name only. How could the people take pride in their royalty when they were mere puppets at the hands of the empire?

'Either way my father's decision is final. The treaty will be signed one week and three days hence. Basch, you will lead the guards during this?'

Basch bowed. 'Yes, Lady Ashe.'

'Thank you. And thank you again as well, Noah. For now I must take my leave of you,' said Ashe. She smiled brilliantly at both of them, the slanting afternoon light catching the ends of her hair.

They said their farewells and left. Noah was ashamed to find how much he needed to lean on Basch on the walk back to his rooms. Reaching the door was a relief, and he was planning to collapse onto his bed until he saw who was sitting on it.

'Vossler! Glad to see that the battle ended with you still in one piece,' he said holding out his hand. Vossler took it, clasping it tightly.

'Too bad I can't say the same for you,' he said. 'You should take more care or we'll lose our best knight. Don't you agree, Basch?'

'Aye,' said Basch, smiling proudly. 'And I too am glad to see you well.'

Vossler moved over to make space for Noah on the bed, while Basch pulled over a chair. For a while the conversation turned to the battle. Who had been injured and who they had lost. Noah hated to hear a good man was dead, but Basch felt personally responsible for all of them and it wasn't long before he was refusing to meet their eyes. Noah looked at Vossler, he never knew what to say when Basch was in this mood.

'They were good men and they died honourably,' said Vossler awkwardly. 'We'll have a memorial for them when the treaty's signed.'

'Yes,' said Basch. 'I want your squad on duty for that. I'll be with you as well.'

'I also,' said Noah.

Basch frowned. 'You can barely stand, you are hardly fit for duty.'

'Do we really expect an attack?' asked Noah. 'I thought the guard would be ceremonial.'

'Since when were you so eager to be ornamental?' said Vossler. 'You know that this is serious, and Basch is right. You've done more than enough already, give the rest of us a chance for some heroics.'

'I'm not angling to be a hero, but with his Majesty in danger you would have me stand by?' Noah clenched his fists by his side and sat up straighter. Basch leant forward too, while Vossler pulled away slightly unsure if this was the knights' business or a family quarrel.

'Would you have men cover for you instead of aiding his Majesty? You can do no good at present,' said Basch.

'If I am too weak to stand alone then they can let me fall. But I would protect Dalmasca's king with my last strength, and all I wish is that you let me!'

'As the knight placed in charge at the ceremony I would be remiss to place you back on duty so soon. And as your brother I will not let you die so easily.'

Noah forced his teeth together, hard. He would not rage while Basch remained calm and reasonable, ever the older brother. Why did less than an hour's difference in age matter so much? Basch's hand closed gently over his good shoulder.

'Noah, I swear I will protect his Majesty with all I have. Will you not trust me with that?' asked Basch.

Noah met his eyes and sighed. 'I trust you, brother.'

'Thank you,' said Basch.

'I'll tell you all about it later,' said Vossler cheerfully, glad to see the quarrel averted.

'Protect the King. I don't care how he looks while signing the treaty,' snapped Noah.

'Aye, yes,' said Vossler, looking like he might laugh. 'Anything you say.'

Noah growled and slumped back against the wall.

#

Noah had stayed true to his word and not asked again to join the guard when the treaty was signed. It galled him, though, to know that raw recruits would be fighting when he was judged unfit. He was healing already and certainly had more experience than them. Vossler tried to talk him out of his bad mood, while Basch seemed content to let him stew. To be fair, much as Noah didn't wish to be, Basch had a lot to see to. And now it was time to see if he had seen to it well.

Noah spent the morning watching out of the window. There seemed a few too many Archadian airships hovering over Nalbina, but he supposed they were there to see the treaty signed. The day moved on, the Archadian dignitaries were escorted in, and Noah became bored with watching. By nightfall he was wandering around the room picking things up and putting them down at random, too bored to sit still and too restless to settle. The sound of gunfire brought him back to the window. One of the little Archadian ships was firing at a group of knights, even at this distance Noah thought he could make out Basch. Those traitorous scum had broken the truce. Noah picked up his sword, it wasn't his sword arm that was injured so he could still fight. And if Basch thought he could stay out of this he must have lost his mind. He pushed open the door and started running to reach the King before the Archadians did.

Running tired him out too quickly and before long he had to stop, he leant on a pillar and cursed his body for giving out on him. When the first Archadians reached him he raised his sword, but there were three of them and it was all he could do to block. One swept his sword in leaving a trail of blood down Noah's arm. One of the others laughed. Noah gathered himself, allowing a shallow cut to a leg while he did, then lunged. His sword took the laughing Archadian through the throat. One of the others came in towards the flank this had left open, Noah flung himself backwards already knowing it was too late. To his surprise and relief the Archadian fell dead at his feet. Vossler stood behind him with a few men.

'You shouldn't be here,' said Vossler.

'I saw them shooting. Where's my brother?' asked Noah.

Vossler caught him under the arm pulling him upright. 'We got separated. He should be at the throne room. Can you run?'

'Yes,' said Noah, praying to the gods it wasn't a lie.

'Then come.'

They ran. Noah stumbling and forcing himself on with every step, while Vossler in heavy armour set the pace with ease. Noah knew Vossler had only brought him because leaving him behind would have meant leaving him to die. Vossler and his men dispatched those Archadians they met, and soon every corridor reeked of blood and offal. The floor outside the throne room was littered with corpses, and when Vossler pushed the door open Noah braced himself for what he might see.

The King was dead. Rassler stood behind his body, face drawn. Basch was holding a young soldier with his arms twisted behind his back. There were bodies on the floor but nobody was fighting now. Noah walked over to Basch. He recognised the young soldier, his name was Raas and he'd been in the Dalmascan army for nearly a year.

'Was he a traitor?' asked Noah.

'Yes.' Basch sounded more sad than angry.

Noah hit Raas hard across the mouth, leaving Raas spitting blood. Noah thought of Ashe's face when she heard of this and went to hit him again.

'Enough,' said Basch. Noah stopped and looked him in the face.

'After what he had done he deserves more than I could do to him,' snarled Noah.

'But hitting him changes nothing. You should leave, there is already enough here for me to deal with.' Basch's tone was cold. Noah could see disappointment in Basch's eyes, reminding him that he was here against orders and his own word. He looked away, knowing there was no excuse he could make.

'I feel he deserves all he gets,' said another voice. Noah turned and saw a dark man in the doorway, Vayne Solidor the Emperor's son. 'After all we were willing to leave you your sovreignty.'

'You can send airships against us and still say that?' demanded Vossler.

'The treaty is void,' said Rassler. He closed King Raminas' eyes before walking around the table to confront Vayne. 'And our hospitality is revoked. You should leave now, or we will deal with you as invaders.'

'And we shall deal with you as a country that does not wish for peace.' There was an undertone to Vayne's voice, almost sarcastic, as though he was making a joke none of them were clever enough to understand.

'In that you are correct,' said Rassler.

Vayne smiled. 'Then I shall leave before I wear out my welcome. I see the time for diplomacy is past.'

Vayne swept out of the room, the remaining Archadians following him like twigs caught in his wake. Noah's vision blurred and he caught at the table for support. Vossler stepped to his side catching him around the waist.

'Vossler. Would you help Noah back to his room? There is no more to be done here,' said Basch. He bowed his head. 'Lord Rassler and I must speak with the Lady Ashe.'

Once back at Noah's room Vossler bandaged the re-opened wound on Noah's shoulder and left. Noah didn't blame him, Vossler would be needed, but he felt keenly the frustration of not knowing what was happening. He wanted to leave, question the other knights about whether the declaration of war was official yet and what the battle plans were. But Basch had sent him here and he had already caused trouble for everyone by leaving here against orders. So he stayed and waited to be remembered. It was past midnight when Basch came to see him.

'You should not have been so reckless,' said Basch.

'I know. And I am ready to accept any punishment that you deem fitting,' said Noah.

Basch shook his head. 'There's too little time for such things. Archadia was waiting for this excuse and have prepared their armies in advance. We scramble to catch up.'

Noah hesitated, then asked, 'Tell me. Had I not been there would Vossler have been in time to save the King?'

'Nay. You were foolish, but as things stand you did no harm. His Majesty's death is not on your head.'

Noah let out a breath he had not known he was holding. Thank the gods he need not bear this guilt. 'The soldier, Raas?' he asked.

'Is dead.'

Noah didn't aske whether that had been by formal execution or some knight's fury. It didn't matter. The traitor had done his job and now they must deal with things as they were.

'Lady Ashe?'

'She is with Lord Rassler,' answered Basch. 'They grieve together for both their families, tomorrow they will put it aside and talk of war. For now we all have space for sorrow.'

He sat down on the bed next to Noah and they sat there lost in seperate thoughts, barely aware of one another's presence. Tomorrow their lives would change once again.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day they returned to Rabanastre, and preperations for war began as soon as they arrived. But diplomacy was a slow game. Making an alliance with Rozaria was the obvious thing to do, however by the time the treaty was even close to finalised Noah was fully healed and almost as impatient with the process as Rasler. Basch was unperturbed as he was by everything; Noah was of the opinion that Basch would be calm if he was being tortured. It could be reassuring and irritating at once when everyone else was on edge. He and Basch were drawing attention too, they were Ashe's choice as personal bodyguards and had drawn more than a few stares. One of the Rozarians had commented on the matched pair as if they were carriage chocabos and Noah hoped the none of other diplomats were as clueless.

Finally the treaty was to be signed. Ashe and Rasler stood together, with Noah by Ashe's side and Basch by Rasler's. All that was missing was the Rozarian Emperor to sign it. The door swung open and in walked the oddest man Noah had ever seen. He wore dark glasses over his eyes, although he removed them with a flourish and passed them to one of the girls that stood behind him, and his shirt barely covered any of his chest. Noah wasn't quite sure what was going on with his boots.

'My apologies to your Majesties,' said the man. 'The Emperor could not make it, and so I, Al-Cid Margrace, am here to perform this duty.'

This, then, was one of the Emperor's sons and empowered to act for him. Ashe and Rassler welcomed him formally and Al-Cid read the treaty through before signing it in letters that must have been huge judging by the way he flourished the pen. Rassler and Ashe both signed it after him.

'There. My duty is done,' said Al-Cid. 'But I would wish to talk with your majesties on my own behalf. If you would permit?'

Ashe and Rasler agreed and they withdrew to Rasler's suite of rooms, Basch and Noah followed as did Al-Cid's girls. Quite what the girls were for was a mystery, they didn't seem like a bodyguard and Noah doubted they were there just to hold Al-Cid's sunglasses. Perhaps they were spies? Once in the room Al-Cid lounged by the window, one arm thrown across the sill.

'Queen and Prince Consort of Dalmasca, what do you know of manufactured nethecite?' he asked.

Ashe and Rasler exchanged a look. 'I've heard of nethicite, it's a form of magicite,' said Rasler. 'I've never heard of it being manufactured.'

'Indeed it is,' said Al-Cid. 'With Bhujerba most unfortunately under the Empire's thumb they are enhancing magicite from the Lhusu mines. Turning it to nethecite. I'm sure you recall the effect nethecite had on Nebradia? In future they will have more.'

'Is there nothing we can do?' demanded Ashe, her face pale and drawn. Noah felt the same way, if this was true Dalmasca may be already lost.

'Mmm. I have heard of a sword, legend perhaps and nothing more,' said Al-Cid. 'A sword wielded by the Dynast King, your majesty's illustrious ancestor. With it he was able to cut and destroy nethecite. If your majesty could retrieve it, perhaps Dalmasca could be saved. Alas, its location is unknown. The closest I have heard is that it may be near Mount Bur-Omisace, but I have only hearsay to go by.'

'Then we must find this sword,' said Ashe. 'I shall leave for Mount Bur-Omisace as soon as is possible.'

'Ashe,' said Rasler. Their eyes met and she reached for his hand.

'You must stay here,' she said. 'We cannot leave our country leaderless.'

'Then allow me to accompany you in his stead,' said Al-Cid. 'I fear the time for diplomacy is past, and I must do what I can to prevent deaths by other methods.'

They both looked at him but it was Rasler who nodded. 'Thank you. If I must be parted from my wife so soon at least I will know she is not alone. Besides, you are the one who knows where to look for this sword.'

Noah stepped forward, as long as he had any say in it Ashe would not need a suspicious foreigner with her to be other than alone. 'Lady Ashe, allow me to accompany you as well.'

'I would be glad of you. And Captain Basch?' she said.

'If your majesty orders me then I will come. But, if I may speak freely, I advise against this venture. We do not even know this sword exists, and you will be needed here,' said Basch. 'As will all your knights.'

'And what do you think, Captain Noah? Do you think this sword worth searching for?' asked Ashe.

'Yes. It is the only hope we have against the nethecite,' said Noah. He looked at Basch, who met his gaze calmly.

'Then I shall ask you to accompany me, but not Captain Basch,' said Ashe. 'He should serve in a manner he believes will aid his country. I shall bring another knight who sees our venture as worthwhile.'

'Then it is settled.' Al-Cid swung himself away from the windowsill. 'You must tell me when we are to set out. Until then I take my leave and go to prepare.'

He left, his girls bowing in unison and following him out. Noah hoped he didn't intend to bring them, whatever their job was they were a little creepy. Basch walked over to Ashe.

'I hope I did not anger you,' he said. 'If I did then I am sorry.'

'No,' said Ashe, clasping Basch's hand briefly. 'I did not wish to force you into doing something where you saw no hope of success. I hope you are not angry with me, for going through with this against your advice.'

Basch smiled. 'Never, Lady Ashe.'

'I shall be glad to have you with me,' said Rasler. 'And sorry to lose Noah, although I know I can entrust Ashe's safety to him.'

'I shall guard her with my life,' promised Noah.

He and Basch were dismissed soon after that. Behind him Noah could already hear Ashe's voice heightened with emotion, it would be a hard leave taking for her. And perhaps not an easy one for him, either.

'Do you truly think our task a fool's errand?' he asked, falling into step with Basch as they made their way to the mess hall.

Basch hesitated and then said, 'Yes. I am sorry, but I see no reason to think otherwise. If Lady Ashe was not so set on going I would say you would do more good here. As it is I am glad you will be with her.'

'It's been a long time since we were assigned separate duties,' said Noah. They never had been, not since he arrived. A long time since they had been separated, he meant, but it seemed so weak to say it.

'Aye. We'll have tales to tell when we meet again,' said Basch. He clapped Noah on the shoulder.

'I'll have more of them,' said Noah. 'You won't be going anywhere, or doing anything but your normal duty.'

'I hope so,' said Basch. 'And I'll look forward to listening to yours.'

There were other knights in the mess hall, including Vossler who was at a table by himself and clearly waiting for them. So they got some stew and joined him. Vossler asked what the Rozarian diplomat had wanted, and they filled him in with the same facts and two very different opinions. All of them forgot to eat, engrossed in telling or listening.

'The Lady Ashe wishes another companion?' said Vossler, when they had finished.

'Yes. Do you wish to come?' said Noah. He hoped the answer was yes, to have his friend with him would only be second best to his brother.

'Yes. It sounds a desperate measure, but these are desperate times and we do what we must. I will talk to the Lady Ashe,' said Vossler.

Basch shook his head, but said nothing. Noah wanted to argue, to force Basch to see that this was no pointless diversion but necessary for the future of Dalmasca. He looked away, he would not have them part again with angry words ringing in their ears.

#

They left barely after dawn, the light streaming into the courtyard was still grey. Ashe would be travelling incognito so Rasler and Basch were the only ones there to see them off. Al-Cid held their chocobos, presumably he had said his goodbyes. Certainly the girls were nowhere to be seen. Ashe was in Rasler's arms, holding on so tightly to each other it seemed that tearing themselves away would injure them. Basch and Vossler said a quiet farewell, then it was Noah's turn.

'Farewell,' said Basch. 'Whatever happens, remember that you will be needed here.'

'I will. Take care and stay safe,' said Noah.

A small smile touched Basch's lips. 'I should be the one to say that. Gods' will we both stay safe until we meet again.'

'Faram,' whispered Noah.

The brothers embraced, briefly but warmly. All would be well, there were no hard feelings and Basch was right. Whether they succeeded or failed there would be a place here where Noah was needed, a place he could return to. He let go, still feeling Basch's breath on his cheek, and they stepped away from one another. Ashe, too, pulled herself away from Rasler, she looked away from them and Noah knew that she was hiding tears. He put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him for a moment before stiffening with resolve.

'We should go,' she said.

They mounted their chocobos, mostly common yellows, although Al-Cid had managed to find a bright red one, and left the courtyard, not without backward glances. Rasler raised his hand to them several times, and, at the last possible moment, Basch did too.

The desert wolves mostly left them alone, they would attack travellers on foot but a group of chocobos was enough to make them think twice. The few cuts they had taken healed abruptly on Giza plains when a large rabbit hopped past them, the chocobos seemed perkier too.

'Is that normal?' asked Noah.

Ashe laughed. 'I'd heard that Giza Rabbits were unlike the common type. But not that they made a habit of healing travellers.'

'Like all good subjects they surely recognise their Queen and wish her well,' said Al-Cid.

Ashe shook her head, still smiling.

The nomads were happy to shelter them for the night, and plagued them anxiously for news of the war. They did not recognise their Queen, Ashe gave her name as Amalia, but had their own concerns. Whether it would be safe to stay in Giza Plains, or whether an army from Archadia might come across it, chief among them. It was sobering to realise how many people would be affected by the war while having no say in it. Ashe became very quiet and thoughtful, and she did not sleep that night.

Golmore jungle was more dangerous, they used up most of their supply of potions. Noah found rubbing them into Ashe's back and legs somewhat embarrassing, but Al-Cid's offer to do it was enough to stop him complaining. It was always surprising to realise she was a woman now, when he had seen her toddling around clinging to her nurse's hand. Perhaps a parent would feel like this, or an older brother.

'I should learn some white magic, I think,' said Ashe, rubbing a half healed welt on her leg. 'We can stock up on potions in the next town, but it would be good to not rely on them so completely.'

'That's probably wise,' said Vossler.

'Perhaps I should be the one to learn white magic, and other kinds as well,' said Al-Cid. 'Certainly I am the weakest fighter, and it would make more sense than taking your time from fighting when you fight so well.'

'Perhaps we both should,' said Ashe. 'With so few of us we all need extra skills. We cannot rely on mages and healers as we normally would. I did not realise I had been so sheltered.'

'I'd hardly think of us as sheltered,' said Noah. 'Used to a different form of fighting, true.'

He'd be glad if Al-Cid and Ashe learned some magic, though. This constant slog of minor fights was different from the chaos and waiting of battle, and was wearing on all of them. He was even glad for Al-Cid's presence, he may be the weakest fighter but having one more person with them had probably saved their lives at some points. And being the weakest of them by no means meant that he was weak.

Ashe shook her head. 'I've never even been on a battle field, save at the camp. With my brothers dead I was not to be risked, and I have been sheltered.'

Noah looked around them at the tangled greenery that had so often hid fiends. The jungle was probably not so hot as Rabanastre, but so humid that it felt hotter, and even the vegetation here could attack.

'You are certainly not sheltered now,' he said.

The Paramina rift was almost a relief, although the cold was like a slap in the face. They were dressed for Dalmasca and Golmore Jungle, not snow and ice. The sudden change wasn't good for the chocobos either, they started wheezing and were wet around the nostrils, the travellers had to dismount and lead them instead of riding. This left them and the chocobos both more vulnerable to wolves, these were not the timid Estersand wolves but thicker furred and bolder relatives. They were closer to the ones Noah remembered from Landis, that would come down into the villages in the coldest winters.

Noah stepped around a corner, sword already out, and found himself abruptly face to face with a skeleton. He gasped and lashed out, letting go of his chocobo as he did so. Another sword landed almost along with his, Vossler had been closer behind him than he knew. Noah managed to parry the skeleton's blade and by then the rest of the party had caught up. They dispatched it speedily, but not without a few wounds in return.

'What was that?' asked Vossler.

'Undead,' said Noah, shakily. 'Up here travellers must die from the cold and the wolves, there would be no mages to prevent them rising.'

The last few battlefields of Landis had been like that, there had been three armies for some battles. Archadia, Landis, and the skeletons who had no loyalties but attacked everyone in sight. Archadian mages must have laid them to rest by now, but it was not a sight Noah wanted to remember. Especially not when some skeletons had been wearing armour he recognised.

'How dreadful,' said Ashe. She stared at the pile of bones the skeleton had left.

'A small problem,' said Al-Cid. 'Our chocobos appear to have deserted us.'

There were indeed no chocobos anywhere near them.

'The wolves must have driven them off,' said Vossler. 'I doubt we'll find them alive.'

'I'd worry more about keeping ourselves alive. We should keep going,' said Noah.

'Agreed,' said Vossler. They both looked at Ashe.

She shivered and looked pensive, but nodded. 'We must keep going.'

The wind got colder the higher they climbed, and Noah's feet were numb from snow soaking through his boots. The wolves seemed more eager to attack them than ever, as did some giant frogs that seemed out of place in the snow.

'Shouldn't they be hibernating?' grumbled Noah, slashing at one with his sword.

Vossler opened his mouth, but instead of replying he just looked surprised. Noah tried to ask what was wrong, but although he opened his mouth no sound came out. He and Vossler looked behind them at the same time, and he might have been speechless with shock if he hadn't been silenced already. A fizzling white elemental was hovering behind them, it didn't have an expression but it still didn't look friendly. Noah grabbed Ashe's arm and pushed her around to see it. She gasped, eyes going wide.

'Run!' she shouted.

They ran, the frog followed, as did a tail of wolves, but they were minor distractions. The elemental was also following and the air had the stretched wire feeling of a major spell about to be performed. The first flash took Vossler down, and Noah stopped to fumble out some phoenix down. A wolf slashed at his arm, soaking his sleeve with blood, but he didn't have time to stop it. Vossler vanished in a flare of light and reappeared on his feet. He nodded his thanks and they turned and fled once more.

The second flash took Noah, although he didn't quite lose consciousness. His steps slowed for a moment before Vossler grabbed his hand and dragged him forwards. Just putting one foot in front of another took all his concentration. He was aware of the harsh glare of lightning, followed by the ruddier flare of phoenix down being used, but he barely had the energy to wonder who had fallen. When Vossler let go of his hand he reached for it again and kept running, but Vossler caught his shoulders instead.

'It's over, we got away,' he said.

Noah let himself slump to the ground, not caring about the snow soaking through his clothes. Vossler passed him the echo herbs he had recently used himself and Noah swallowed them as quickly as possible, disliking the bitter taste. Vossler's hand touched his arm and he felt the warmth of a potion soaking into his skin. He caught at Vossler's wrist.

'We don't have enough,' he said.

'We're nearly at Mount Bur-Omisace,' said Vossler. 'If we use our last few potions on you and the Lady Ashe, we should be able to make it by nightfall. Or did you want to stay out here another night?'

'Not for the world,' said Noah, making no protest as Vossler finished seeing to his wounds. 'Wait. Lady Ashe was hit?'

'I am fine,' she called. 'My wounds are being healed as we speak.'

Noah was glad to hear it, but if Vossler was seeing to him then that left…

'That crazy Rozarian is rubbing you with potion!'

'Nice to know I am thought so highly of,' said Al-Cid. 'But I assure you that, stunning as Dalmasca's Princess is, my intentions are entirely honourable.'

Ashe laughed and, even if she was laughing at him, Noah was glad to hear her sound cheerful again. 'He's being a perfect gentleman,' she said. 'And I didn't get wounded in any of those places.'

Noah blushed. 'I am quite sure you did not,' he said.

Al-Cid stood up. 'If we are able now then I suggest we move onward and upward. It is only a few hours until nightfall.'

Noah nodded and got to his feet, as did Ashe and Vossler. Not long now until they could rest.


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing they did at Mount Bur-Omisace was eat and get some rest. There were makeshift shelters rigged up everywhere, and fires to warm the weary travellers. The people there were refugees from Nabudis, mostly, and the shock of their loss was just starting to give way to relief and cautious optimism. The exception was the vierra selling weapons who seemed to consider the fall of a country a minor inconvenience, and this just a stop on the road to the next place she would make a home in. A couple of human merchants were selling items, as well as magicks and tecnicks, and they stopped there to stock up on potions while Al-Cid deliberated on whether to get fira or watera. He and Ashe both bought basic white magic spells.

The Nu Mou were quite willing to grant them an audience with the Gran Kiltias Anastasis. They walked into the chamber where he sat, eyes closed, with the weathered dignity of an old oak tree. Ashe bowed before him.

'I, Ashelia B'nurgin Dalmasca, request your help. At present we stand helpless before Archadia's weapons, but I have heard tell of a sword that can destroy nethecite. A sword which would be mine by right of inheritance. I beg you, tell me where this power lies.'

'You are young child.' The voice seemed to come from all around them. 'Yet the dream of your country's future lies with you. The Sword of Kings indeed was left with us, why King Raithwall did not leave it with his own line I know not. It was the source of his power.'

'The source? I thought only to destroy the Empire's nethecite. Does it have some power of its own?' asked Ashe.

'Interesting as this is, the important point is to know where to look for this sword. Afterwards we can see about abilities which would come only as a bonus to our original purpose,' said Al-Cid.

Ashe looked at him sharply, but when he only shrugged she nodded and looked away.

'It is true,' she said. 'Can you tell us where the Sword of Kings was left?'

'It was left with us and we have kept it safe, I wonder what it would accomplish back in the hands of man. I have dreamt your dream, and I would know what you seek to achieve.'

'I seek only to defend my country. I am responsible for those living under my rule,' said Ashe.

'You do not seek power?' asked the Gran Kiltias.

'Only the power to protect.'

The Gran Kiltias opened his eyes. They were black and beady and when he spoke with his own voice he revealed very sharp teeth.

'Then your bloodright will be yours. Go south-west from here to the Stillshrine of Miriam. There King Raithwall left his treaty blade. But beware, while you dream of your country others are dreaming of you and of the legacy they will that you would leave behind.'

'I thank you, for your help and advice. Farewell,' said Ashe.

'Farewell, child, until your dream comes to an end.' The voice was resonant again, the Gran Kiltias falling once more into his waking dream.

They left quietly, and outside the acolytes gave them more specific instructions.

'So we have to walk all the way down to the paramina rift again,' said Noah as they set out. 'We must have been closer to it on the way here.'

'Patience, my friend,' said Al-Cid. 'We may progress slowly, but we do not stand still.'

'And what might that mean?' asked Noah, irritably. He was not the Rozarrian's friend.

'It means we still have hope, that most precious and nebulous of things, and that we may yet have success,' said Al-Cid.

'We might progress faster if we spent less time talking,' said Vossler, walking past them.

Noah shrugged and followed.

#

As they walked further down the mountain Noah kept an extremely wary eye out for the storm elemental, but there was no sign of it. They found the entrance to the Stillshrine with little difficulty, the wolf attacks on the way down were dealt with more easily now that they had magicks on their side. Although Al-Cid was, in Noah's opinion, rather too smug about casting fire, and trust him to choose the flashiest spell available.

The outside of the Stillshrine was a beautiful place, with clear water reflecting the marble around it. Once past the entrance the stillshrine dropped any pretence of being pleasant, it was cold and dank and it smelled of rot. Ashe shuddered, for someone raised in Rabanastre this place must look even worse. Cold, lifeless and leached of colour. She took a deep breath and raised her chin, then walked in ahead of them with measured steps.

The place was cavernous, anything could be lurking in the shadows and it seemed to shut out even thoughts of the sun. It was enough to make one feel both closed in and perilously exposed. A movement seen out of the corner of his eye made Noah jump and swing his sword, only to find he had impaled a redmaw. He pushed it off the blade with his boot and it fell to the floor, wings still fluttering in the spasms of death.

'These aren't such terrible foes,' said Noah. There was no echo, his voice was swallowed by the darkness.

'I doubt they are the worst this place has to offer,' said Vossler. He had pulled his sword out also, and as they moved on he and Noah batted redmaws aside, stunning or slicing them. The others followed, not speaking for fear of what might hear.

Deeper in they found a crystal, a waystone and a small shrine. Ashe bent over and her lips moved as she read the shrine's inscription.

'It says I need my birthright,' she whispered. 'The Dusk Shard.'

She stood there, shoulders slumped and sword tip touching the ground. After all this way they must turn around and go back to the palace. She looked defeated.

'Suppose we try without?' said Vossler. 'Your birthright could be your position as princess, and that you always have.'

Ashe looked up and nodded, although she still looked doubtful. Al-Cid opened his mouth to object, but too late, she reached forwards and touched the shrine. There was a faint noise like tearing cloth, and Noah felt a blade pierce his arm. He shouted and swung at his foe as he turned, only to find himself staring into the half rotted face of a corpse. He backed away, blocking against it more than attacking, only to see it consumed with fire in front of his eyes. It lunged towards him, its extremities already crumbling, and he managed to finish it with a blow to the chest.

Noah looked up and saw Al-Cid watching him. Ashe, across the room, was fighting her foe with considerable more resolution than he had managed. Vossler dispatched his in that moment and went to help Ashe. Noah joined him, ashamed of being the only one afraid of these things as more than other fiends.

Afterwards Ashe wiped her sword on a pillar and said, 'There are too many of the undead here, I would sooner fight a saurian.'

'I too,' said Noah relieved that he was not, after all, the only one.

'If you had given me time to speak,' said Al-Cid. 'I could have told you that we have no problem. Your birthright is, indeed, here with you.'

He reached into his pouch and drew out a stone that glowed brightly enough to send the shadows skittering away from them.

'I should hope you have a very good reason for having that,' said Ashe.

'You raided our treasury,' said Noah, feeling ready to hit the smug Rozarian. 'And after our princess trusted you!'

'In fact I raided the treasury before your princess trusted me. I had not yet been accepted as your companion then, although if I had not been I would have returned it,' said Al-Cid.

'I'm more interested in how he raided it,' said Vossler. 'All our guests were watched.'

'How untrusting, but what can I say? Sometimes my little birds are magpies,' said Al-Cid.

'Nonetheless, you stole from our kingdom as an ambassador of your own. How can we trust an alliance with such a thieving nation?' demanded Noah.

'We must, because we cannot do without them,' said Ashe. She held out her hand and Al-Cid planted the stone in it with a bow. 'I shall treat it as a loan, since the Dusk Shard is returned to me.'

She touched the shrine again. This time there was a flash of light and they found themselves in a hall.

'Where now?' asked Vossler.

'I do not know,' said Ashe. 'But we can only go forwards.'

That turned out to be a misstatement. They could also go around in circles while being attacked by statues, zombies, skeletons, huge bird things and a gods-cursed healing crystal. Only to have to retrace their footsteps and go around in circles in the other direction. Noah had never loathed anywhere quite as much as he loathed the Stillshrine. And then, because of some bizarre riddle game involving statues, they had had to fight an enemy that their swords kept sticking to. This place had to have been designed by someone both sadistic and bored. Fortunately after the last statue had been moved they seemed near the end of the Stillshrine, surely there could be no more terrible monsters than they had already faced. An unearthly screech, like a mortally wounded cockatrice at the bottom of a well, told him he was wrong.

The creature looked like a preying mantis, until he looked closer and saw the woman's form among the purple limbs. It screeched again, and the white balls of light around it drew closer. Noah drew his sword. The sizzle of lightening took him by surprise, more so when he realised it was not aimed at him. He shot a look at Al-Cid, who grinned.

'I like to have something unexpected up my sleeve,' he said. Another flash hit the light, Noah shrugged and went for one himself.

The balls of light seemed to come from all directions and swords were little use, they needed more magic. Why had the Gran Kiltias not warned them of this? Had he meant to send them to their deaths? Noah fought them away from Al-Cid while he chugged another elixir, he looked exhausted and was pale under his tan. The insect creature shrieked again, and Noah felt ice pierce him. The warmth of Al-Cid's healing magic soon followed.

'Use potions,' grunted Noah, chopping at a light. 'You have no magic to waste.'

'We must run,' said Al-CId urgently, even as he continued fighting.. 'We are attempting the impossible.'

'For Dalmasca,' said Noah. He slammed his sword against the ball of light and was surprised when it fell.

Vossler was standing over Ashe's prone body fighting the last of the light balls. Noah went to help them but Vossler gestured towards the insect creature. Noah nodded. He paused to gather himself and charged. He got in a few blow before its magic hit him and he fell to his knees, but he used his sword to force himself up again. Dropping this thing was going to take a miracle. Vossler charged past him, hitting it now as well, and lightning flashed again, but it was not enough. They had failed.

Light flooded the chamber, bright as sunlight but blindingly white. Noah turned, nearly blinded, and saw Ashe floating in the air, tiny stars twirling around her. She spread her arm and the starlight plunged past Noah and into the heart of the beast. It pulsed and faded only to grow again and again hit, the beast was screaming now. A third time the starlight grew blinding and struck and then Ashe fell to the ground.

'Lady Ashe!' Noah ran to her, and she smiled up at him weakly.

'Al-Cid is not the only one who likes to have something up his sleeve,' she gasped.

'You are a marvel,' he told her, pulling her to her feet and nearly falling himself as he did.

Ashe looked grimly at the battle the other two were still joined in. 'We must fight on,' she said. Noah nodded.

Al-Cid threw two potions to them when they were closer and they quickly healed their deeper wounds before rejoining the fight. They had no more elixirs now, and Al-Cid was fighting with his long daggers instead of casting. Noah slammed his sword into a limb, too exhausted for any greater skill, Vossler was in closer stabbing at vulnerable areas.

Suddenly the room filled with water, Noah tried to hold his breathe but found he couldn't feel his own body. There were swords dancing around the creature, he saw through his panicked attempt at struggle, her limbs waving them into place. The swords drew into one and it flew upwards, becoming a mountain as it broke the surface, and the mountain shattered. Icy pain and disorientation swept Noah, he knelt on the floor trying not to throw up.

When he looked up it was to see phoenix down flaring in the air over Ashe. The creature was gone and there was a pattern of light, looking like some otherworldly parchment, floating in the air.

'What was that?' he asked.

'An esper,' said Ashe. 'That, too, must have been Raithwall's power.'

She reached out and took the parchment, holding it against her body. Both light and shape faded into her. Noah felt uneasy about a contract with such a creature, but it was Ashe's right and would gain them a powerful ally. Ashe walked to the door at the other end of the room and through, the others following. Noah felt that one more fight would finish them, but there seemed to be no monsters here.

Ashe stepped up to what might be another door, decorated with circles in glowing green light. She held the Dusk Shard out before her, her hand shaking only slightly. The cogs of the door began to turn. Noah waited for it to open, but it did not, instead a sword formed in its centre. It slowly descended and Ashe put her hand around it like a child catching a falling feather. The weight tore it from her grasp and she had to bend down to grasp the hilt again.

'What good is a sword our princess cannot lift?' asked Vossler.

Ashe stood up, slowly, but the blade was fully lifted in front of her. She turned to face them, still holding it high. Noah was reminded of Rasler, standing by the airships ready to lead them into battle.

'With this sword we can destroy the Empire's power,' she said. 'With it I can stand as a shield before Dalmasca.'

No one else said anything, but Noah knew Vossler was thinking the same as him. If Ashe must stand as a shield before Dalmasca, they must stand as a shield before her.


	4. Chapter 4

They used the waystones to return, and healed themselves at the crystal before leaving the Stillshrine. Ashe seemed almost to be glowing with an inner light, buoyed up by her dreams of the future. Noah wanted only to sleep, and dreaded the climb back up the paramina rift before they reached shelter. The clean scent of snow near the entrance wiped away the rot of the stillshrine as they stepped out into the light.

There was practically a wall of men in armour standing outside. They were led by a man in fancier armour which appeared to have horns. A Judge Magistre.

'I am Judge Ghis of the eighth regiment. You are all under arrest, hand over your weapons and you will be treated mercifully.'

'May I know what crime I have commited?' asked Ashe. Even this did not destroy her new-found confidence.

She was ignored, one of the imperials grasping her roughly while another twisted her weapon from her grasp. Noah's eyes narrowed, and when one attempted to take his weapon he was ready.

'You want my sword? Then have it.' He thrust the point at the neck join in the armour and was rewarded by a spurt of blood.

The imperials swarmed him and he went down. He kept stabbing up at them even while on his knees, dodging their blades as best he could. Finally one caught him a blow to the head and he went down.

He woke in a small room that was, by the thrumming under the floor, on an airship. Moving hurt, but he forced himself into a sitting position all the same. Ashe was sitting against the wall with Vossler near her, while Al-Cid sprawled in a corner. None of them looked to have more than scratches.

'We have no potions,' said Ashe, apologetically.

'No matter,' said Noah. 'Am I the only one that was hurt?'

'Yes,' said Al-Cid. 'And you know why? Because you do not give up when a situation is hopeless. Discretion is the better part of valour, along with not being too injured to be useful. There is no shame in giving in to that which you cannot defeat.'

Noah stiffened. 'What would you know of shame, thief?'

Al-Cid looked at the ceiling. 'I do only what I must.'

'And that includes taking the property of others. Would it also include betrayal?' demanded Noah. He leant over to Al-Cid threateningly, blood boiling at the man's arrogance.

'Do not insult me. I have told you that I wish only for peace,' said Al-Cid, sitting straighter himself.

'Which says nothing about where your loyalties lie,' said Noah.

'Stop this,' said Ashe. 'Noah, please, he has returned the Dusk Shard.'

Al-Cid held up a hand, looking past Noah to Ashe. 'Say nothing of that here. They did not take it, and so they do not know. Do not tempt fate.'

Noah grabbed Al-Cid's shoulder. 'Listen to me. Who do you side with? Or are we the counters in a game you play?'

He had not truly suspected Al-Cid of betrayal, suggesting it had been an insult in return for the insult of Al-Cid lecturing him. But having said it he found his suspicions growing. Al-Cid was not truly on the side of Dalmasca, but of Rozaria, and as he said he wanted peace. Would he be willing to sell them for that peace? Peace between two empires with no thought for the smaller lands crushed between them.

'To be entirely honest, everyone is a gamepiece to a skilled diplomat. But you will be no poorer for my plans, I promise you. Archadia wants war, selling your princess out to them would gain me nothing,' said Al-Cid.

'A reasonable answer,' said Vossler. 'We cannot trust him, so we keep an eye on him. We can gain nothing by brawling in a prison cell.'

'I agree,' said Ashe. 'We should try to sleep, there is no point to being deathly tired when we arrive.'

Noah hesitated, but it would not further the plans of Al-Cid or Archadia to murder them in their sleep. He lay down, too tired to let worry keep him awake. These days he seemed to be knocked unconscious more often than he slept, but for now he could rest.

The change in the noise of the ship's engine woke Noah shortly before they landed. He sat up quickly, wincing as it re-opened cuts from the day before. Probably the day before, he had no idea how long he had slept. Ashe was still asleep, her head resting on Vossler's shoulder. Al-Cid looked better rested than he really should have, even managing to look jaunty as he leaned against the wall. Noah glared at him before turning to Vossler.

'Do you know where they have taken us?' he asked.

It was Al-Cid that answered. 'We are most likely in the imperial city of Archades.'

There was a brief jolt and then the engines cut out. Ashe lifted her head and rubbed sleep out of her eyes, she opened her mouth to speak but stopped as footsteps were heard outside their room. The door opened, revealing not only Judge Ghis and a retinue of imperials, but also a man who was not in armour at all. He was wearing a red brocade coat with a high starched collar and had a look in his eyes that was more than a little worrying. He walked around their cell, stopping in front of Ashe who was still leaning against Vossler. Vossler's eyes narrowed and he shifted subtly closer to Ashe.

'This is the one, isn't she, Venat?' said the man, apparently talking to thin air. 'Let me see what she has got for us.'

His hand plunged towards Ashe's pouch and, before Vossler could stop him, he was holding up the dusk shard. His eyes shone too brightly even for reflecting that bright stone.

'Ah. Deifacted nethicite, so much more powerful than our manufactured sort, yet in the end nothing but a trap.' He turned suddenly to Judge Ghis. 'Tell Vayne Solidor I have the Dusk Shard and have taken it to Draklor Laboratory. I must study this.'

'As you say, Dr Cid,' replied Judge Ghis.

Noah watched the doctor leave, once again talking to his imaginary companion. Surely Archadia did not entrust the study of nethicite to a lunatic? Although he had known where the dusk shard was when the imperials had missed it, perhaps he was less mad than he seemed. Could it be a ghost that he was talking with? Or something else?

'Bring the prisoners,' said Judge Ghis to the imperials.

'Yes, sir,' said one. He turned to the prisoners. 'On your feet. And no funny stuff.'

They stood up, Noah had nothing left he could have tried. He held out some hope that Al-Cid would use magic, or Ashe her strange starlight technique. But as they were marched across the grounds and into the palace it became clear that nobody would try anything. Finally they were left in another cell, no bigger than the one on the airship and worse kept.

'I suppose you do not know a lock-picking spell,' said Ashe to Al-Cid.

'I regret that I do not,' he said. 'Once again we have nothing to do but wait.'

#

To their surprise a potion was pushed through with their food. Noah used it without complaint, he hated to admit it but Al-Cid had had a point about him being too injured to be useful. He leant back against the wall, and wondered how Basch was doing back in Rabanastre. Undoubtedly better than they were, since with the sword taken they had failed in their mission. And now Ashe was a prisoner in Archadian hands.

'Are they holding me for ransom?' asked Ashe, quietly.

'Who knows?' said Al-Cid. 'Would your husband cede your country for you, do you suppose?'

'I would hope not,' said Ashe. 'We cannot trade over the lives of our subjects for our own wishes. That is what it means to be royalty.'

'What of you, Lord Al-Cid?' asked Vossler. 'What would your country trade for you?'

'Nothing. My usefulness as a diplomat lies as much in being expendable as persuasive. I have elder brothers, they will mourn me, but my loss will not hurt the country overmuch. The same cannot really be said of you, my Lady Ashe.'

Ashe inclined her head. 'Rasler, too, is of Raithwall's line. If I were dead and he married again his line may be able to rule Dalmasca still. The people already took to him as one of their own.'

'Lady Ashe, do not talk as if you will die here,' said Noah. 'It is too early yet to give up hope.'

The sound of something banging against the door made them all turn. They had heard no footsteps. Hands appeared between the bars in their cell's grating, and then eyes. The person outside was barely tall enough to see in.

'Al-Cid, are you in there?' the boy asked.

'Larsa! My little princeling, how good to see you even under such circumstances as this,' said Al-Cid. He went to the grating and leaned down, as close to eye to eye as was possible.

'What were you doing, Al-Cid? My brother says you intended to destroy us,' said the boy. Noah could not judge his age, he was so tiny yet spoke with an adult inflection.

'A misunderstanding. You know that I have always sought peace, do you not?'

'But there is no peace any more. Our countries are at war with one another,' said Larsa. He sounded almost regretful.

'Larsa, listen to me. Even now it is peace I seek. Your brother wants this war for what he sees as good reason, but he does not see those crushed by war, homeless and starving or simply dead. This, above all, is what I wish to prevent.'

Noah had not suspected the Rozarian of being capable of such conviction. This, then, was what was underneath the airs and affectations. Perhaps Al-Cid was not a bad sort after all. Especially to think of such things when he must have been raised so far away from all the consequences of war.

'I do not wish for those things either,' said Larsa. 'And I do not believe my brother does. He would not cause such things.'

'War causes such things,' said Al-Cid.

'Dalmasca started this war.'

'That is not true,' said Ashe. She stood up and moved over to the grating where Larsa could see her. 'Archadia took Nalbina and tried to take Dalmasca. My father would have treated with Archadia, but he was killed by them before he could do so. Dalmasca are not the ones that want this war.'

'Neither is my brother. If Dalmasca had given in to us than you would be under our protection instead of being our enemies. You need not have fought.' Larsa sounded infuriatingly certain of what he was saying. Noah had to remind himself this was a child, likely he knew no better.

'If some great power asked you to give up Archadia, would you do so?' Noah asked.

There was silence from the other side of the door for a moment. 'No,' said Larsa. 'Perhaps you are right. I must talk with my brother about these things. I do not believe he would intend to do wrong.'

'Intentions are a great thing, but they sometimes have little to do with effect,' said Al-Cid, his voice sounding a little strained. 'Larsa, will you trust that this needs to be done now and we have no time to parley with Lord Vayne.'

'I believe you. Will you swear that you are not here to do my brother harm?' asked Larsa.

'I swear on my honour as a Margrace,' said Al-Cid.

Larsa's eyes disappeared from the grating and there was the sound of a key turning in the lock. The door swung open to show a boy of about ten. He looked solemn and was standing straight as if that would make him taller, but there was a hint of mischief about his smile. Doing this on his own initiative clearly appealed to him. He was wearing a sword that really wasn't much more than a long dagger, but surprising all the same to see one so young trusted with a valuable weapon. Al-Cid ruffled Larsa's hair and had his hand pushed away indignantly.

'So you intended to let us out all along,' Al-Cid said.

'Yes,' said Larsa. 'But intentions may have little to do with effect.'

Al-Cid laughed. 'A true Archadian child.'

Larsa turned and bowed slightly to Ashe. 'Lady Ashe, welcome to Archades. I regret that you have been detained mistakenly, and beg that you do not think worse of us for that.'

Noah and Vossler exchanged looks. How were children raised in Archadia to turn out one like this? Ashe bowed in return.

'I thank you for your welcome, and wish that I need not ask more of you. But could you tell us where those things taken from us are kept?'

'I do not know,' said Larsa. 'Dr Cid took a stone and one of the swords to Draklor, but for the rest I cannot say.'

'Thank you,' said Ashe. 'Farewell, Larsa.'

'Farewell,' said Al-Cid. 'I regret there is little chance we will meet again soon.'

'Wait,' said Noah. There would be guards on the way to Draklor, ones who surely would recognise their Emperor's son and not detain him. 'Larsa, perhaps you would like to accompany us? And see for yourself that we do no harm.'

Larsa smiled at him, happy to be taken seriously or to get to continue this adventure. 'Of course I will come,' he said.

As they set off Al-Cid shot Noah a look that could have been reproach.


	5. Chapter 5

They got some strange looks on the way to Draklor, but with Larsa walking beside Al-Cid nobody stopped them. Besides which they appeared to be taking little used passages and seldom saw anyone but servants, who would be unlikely to challenge them. Noah felt a certain amount of respect for Larsa, he might be naive but he was clearly no fool, even at ten. Once outside they garnered more strange looks, but 'what is that rag-tag band doing here?' rather than 'summon the guard'. The children they saw were all wearing neat clothes and walking with their parents, Noah was starting to think Archadia had outlawed play.

Draklor itself was an imposing building, square and brutally functional in its design. Larsa led them up to the entrance with such absolute confidence it was almost a surprise when he was challenged.

'Lord Larsa, who are your companions?' said one of the two Judges stationed outside.

'They are here to see Dr Cid,' said Larsa.

'On what business?' asked the Judge.

The other Judge, the one who had not spoken, looked at them and even through the helmet Noah could sense interest and disbelief.

'Dr Cid's business,' said Larsa. Noah tensed, they would not get away with this deception. But there were only two guards to the four of them.

'He did mention them,' said the second Judge. 'I'll take them through to him.'

He turned and walked inside before the other Judge could respond, they followed. Vossler caught Noah's eye and jerked his head towards the Judge, Noah nodded slightly.

'Well, perhaps -' began the Judge, but he got no further. Vossler's sword was at his throat in a single movement.

'Wait!' demanded Larsa. 'You said you would not harm anyone.'

Noah grabbed him by the wrist and jerked him backwards hard, guilt making him rough. 'We said we would not harm your brother,' he said.

'A sword was brought here earlier, and a stone,' said Vossler. 'Where are they?'

'And why would a sword be brought here?' asked the Judge, calm as if there was not a sword pressing through the join in his armour.

'Because it will destroy nethecite,' said Ashe. 'Now tell us where it is, if you know.'

'And you had better know,' added Vossler.

'Easy there,' said the Judge, holding his hands up. 'If you're looking to destroy nethecite we're on the same side.'

'Judge Bunansa, you will allow our enemies to steal in and destroy our weapons?' said Larsa, even now managing a fragile dignity.

'Sorry, but nethecite's not good for anyone. I'd worry about your brother if he's spending time around it,' said Judge Bunansa.

'My brother? Why, what will it do to him?'

'You've seen Dr Cid, surely. He wasn't always that way,' said the Judge, his voice mingling sorrow and mockery.

'No, you are lying. My brother would not use something like that,' said Larsa. He struggled now, trying to wrench free.

'Think what you like,' said Judge Bunansa, turning to lead the way. Vossler followed, his sword still at the man's throat. 'And the sword is this way I believe. Perhaps you should leave the young lord.'

'And have him fetch the guards?' said Noah. He wrapped his arms around Larsa's waist and hoisted him onto his hip. Larsa took a deep breath and Noah managed to clamp a hand over his mouth before he could shout. Larsa slid down slightly now Noah could not support him as easily with both arms, but he was off the ground so Noah followed like that.

As soon as he reached the others Al-Cid exclaimed, 'Stop it, you will suffocate the child.'

'I have not covered his nose,' said Noah defensively.

'Even so, he can hardly breathe carried like that. At least put him down,' said Al-Cid.

Noah lowered Larsa to the floor, he could feel him shaking and a tear landed hot against Noah's hand.

'Had I known it would come to this I never would have allowed you to bring him,' said Al-Cid.

'Then what did you think? That we would let him fetch his brother, or an army of imperials? We needed him to bring us here, and we need him now as hostage if we are discovered. We cannot fail in this! You understand no more than he does what it is to have your country threatened, what your empires do to those smaller than they.'

'How the strong treat the weak? I think you have given him a good indication,' said Al-Cid.

'Fascinating as this is, he won't need to shout for the guards if you do it for him,' said Judge Bunansa. 'Leave him or bring him, but do come on.'

Noah looked down at Larsa, the boy was shaking and tearful. His adult demeanour had shattered completely, and Noah wished suddenly that Basch was here instead of him. Basch would never have thought to do this. 'Cry out and I will suffocate you,' he said, forcing anger into his voice in the hope that it would mask shame and pity. He took his hand away from Larsa's mouth. When Larsa remained silent Noah nodded and hoisted him over his shoulder.

Judge Bunansa led them into a room full of crates stacked against the walls. The sword lay on a table in the centre of the rooms tangled in a nest of wires. Ashe walked over and pulled it free, she looked up at the crates.

'These are all nethecite?' she asked.

'No, nethecite is kept higher up. This is magicite waiting to be treated,' said Judge Bunansa. 'Can you put that blade away now? I think I've shown we're on the same side.'

'Why?' asked Ashe.

Larsa squirmed and Noah jolted him higher to make him stop. Ashe cast him an anxious look, she had not said anything but he doubted she was happy about his hostage.

'Because of Dr Cidolfus Demen Bunansa,' said the Judge, a subtle emphasis on the last name.

'Your father?' said Ashe.

'He was.'

Ashe nodded. 'Vossler, put up your sword,' she ordered. Vossler reluctantly obeyed.

The Judge took off his helmet and placed it on the table where the sword had been. He was a young man of about twenty, and probably slender under the bulky armour. He smiled at Ashe.

'Come, if your sword can destroy nethecite I can show you a roomful of it,' he said.

They walked down a passageway and up two flights of stairs, Judge Bunansa going ahead to order people out of their way before they came through. Larsa was squirming more and more, nearly sending them down the stairwell on more than one occasion. At last they came to another room, it was similar to the first one as all the rooms in Draklor appeared similar. Crates were stacked only along one of its walls, and only to waist height on Noah.

'All the nethecite that is not already in use,' said Judge Bunansa. 'Let's see what that sword is good for.'

He tipped a crate over and shards of nethecite rolled across the floor. Ashe swung her sword at each of them, and although they did not visibly change Noah could sense a lessening of some tension in the air. Sometimes he saw half shadows and almost forms in the air above the shards before Ashe hit them. She worked her way through the crates steadily, methodically, sweat forming on her brow and running down into her eyes.

Noah felt a sharp pain in his side and his knees folded under him. He felt Larsa tumble aside and looked up, astonished, to see Larsa standing before him bloodied dagger in hand. Larsa turned as if to run, but Vossler had been near the door and had already stepped to cover it. Noah reached to grab the boy, but Larsa turned too quickly and had the dagger at his throat before he could.

'Do not touch me,' said Larsa, his voice quivering. Noah looked up into his eyes and saw fear and anger, and something else harder to define. Nobility, perhaps, strength gained by knowing he had the right to it and the duty to show it. If Noah was beaten now, it was by a worthy opponent. And one who had the right to make him pay with his life.

'I am sorry,' said Noah. 'Strike then, if you will.'

'No, please,' said Ashe. 'He acted out of loyalty to Dalmasca. Do not kill him, Larsa, please.'

Noah looked at her, and smiled. 'Either way, we have succeeded,' he said. Ashe looked stricken.

'I do not wish to kill anyone,' said Larsa. 'Only to be let go.'

'Once we have destroyed the nethecite you shall be,' said Vossler.

'No. You shall let me go now,' said Larsa. 'Or I shall -'

He could not say it, and in that betrayed himself. Noah lifted his hand and caught Larsa's wrist. The sword flicked his throat, drawing blood, but there was no stab.

'You cannot kill me,' he said. 'You are too young and too good for that.'

'Larsa,' said Al-Cid. 'Once the nethecite is destroyed we shall not keep you. But these people have too much to lose to allow you to prevent their purpose.'

'And you?' said Larsa. He was still looking at Noah, the two of them caught in a tableau with Noah's hand on his wrist, but he addressed Al-Cid.

'I fear for those caught in the crunch, as you have been today,' said Al-Cid. 'Between countries the effects can be much bigger. Do you know what happened to Nabradia?'

'It was defeated?' said Larsa.

'It was destroyed,' said Al-Cid. Noah heard Ashe gasp. Then she broke free of the stillness that had held them and renewed her attack on the nethecite, Judge Bunansa once again tipping out crates for her.

'Half of it can no longer be inhabited by man, but only the worst kind of beasts. They have made a necrohol of it, a place of death and no life that is not warped,' said Al-Cid. 'And it was done with nethecite.'

'My brother would not do so,' said Larsa, but there was uncertainty in his voice.

Noah looked at him. 'Your brother did. I was there when Nabudis fell.'

'He cannot have known. Nethecite is a new thing. He could not have know it would do that, he will not use this nethecite so,' insisted Larsa.

'Then we are merely making sure he does not,' said Al-Cid.

'Done,' said Ashe, startling them all. 'This nethecite is finished.'

'They have the Dusk Shard, we must find that,' said Vossler.

'Now will you let me go?' asked Larsa.

Noah looked at Ashe, it would be hard to find the Dusk Shard with guards after them. But they had promised.

'Yes,' said Ashe. 'Vossler, stand aside.'

Noah let go of Larsa's wrist and Larsa sheathed his sword, he walked to the door with the gait of one forcing himself not to run. Noah wished there was some way to explain, but they had already told Larsa their reasons. He doubted they would seem good enough to the one who had suffered for them. Larsa looked back at Al-Cid from the doorway, then turned into the corridor and vanished from their sight.

#

'We should hurry,' said Judge Bunansa.

Noah nodded and stood up, pressing his hand to his side as he did so. Blood seeped between his fingers, the wound was not deep but it was awkward. Vossler shook his head.

'And I thought of our hostages you took the easy option,' he said.

'Hardly,' said Noah. 'Were do we go now?'

'Upwards, Dr Cid has rooms on the top floor,' said Judge Bunansa.

They ran, Judge Bunansa's armour clanking as they did. Noah wondered how anyone could run in armour like that. Ashe seemed out of breathe, not surprising after working through so much nethecite, and Noah himself was feeling pain stab him with each step. He wondered how long it would take Larsa to find a guard. By the time they reached the top corridor there wass the distant sound of pursuit. Dr Cid's voice could be heard clearly though, they had nearly reached him.

'A little ahead of schedule, aren't they, Venat? Amazing what a difference adding one can make, or does it all come to the same thing in the long run I wonder? After all they would hardly allow it to -'

Vossler pushed open the door to revealing an enormous room, one which would be more at home in a palace than a laboratory. Dr Cid stood on a podium at the end of it, for all the world as if he were performing before an audience. They approached him, Judge Bunansa taking the lead.

'Well, my son, what have you brought me here?' Dr Cid asked genially.

'I have brought you nothing, but brought them to you at their request. I believe you have sunk to being a thief now as well as misused nethecite,' the tone was steady but sad, it must hurt deeply to fight one's own family.

'This from one who dreams of piracy across the skies? My son, I wished to share with you a dream for all our futures. To finally be free, with the reigns of history back in the hands of man.'

'I don't know about history. But you have not given me freedom.'

The sound of footsteps outside pushed Ashe reluctantly forwards. 'Return the stone to us,' she said.

'Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca, what do you want of nethecite? Did you know it could save your country, put fear into the hearts of those who threaten you? Or will you destroy your country's only hope to live?'

'Give it to me. What I do with it will be my own choice.'

'But you're thinking about it, aren't you? The Empire can make more nethecite, but I know where you can get some of your own. Would you like that?'

He was avoiding a fight, drawing them into conversation instead of action. Understandable, he was an old man and clearly could not fight them. But, no, he was backing towards the doors behind him, hoping to have them too intent on his words to attack. Noah judged the distance. He leapt to the platform and struck in one motion. The walls flew past him and he landed hard on the other side of the room.

'Why, thank you, Venat. A shame our nethecite wasn't ready for personal use, this would have been a fine test of it. Now, Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca. If you want this stone again, or some of your own perhaps, then go to Giruvegan. I, too, go there,' said Dr Cid.

Noah heard the engine of some sort of airship, but he couldn't see. He struggled to his knees and Vossler came to help him the rest of the way. His wound was bleeding again and he could barely stand for bruises.

'Go. I would slow you down, and this is my fault to begin with,' he said urgently, he could hear imperials calling outside the door.

'Not unless you attacked Nabradia. Come, you will slow us down less if you do not try to sacrifice yourself,' said Vossler.

'This way,' said Judge Bunansa.

They followed him, Noah appreciated that they had no time to argue. The warmth of a potion on his side took him by surprise, and he looked up to see Ashe splashing it onto him from the bottle. She half smiled, and turned ahead to Judge Bunansa.

'Where do we go?' asked Al-Cid.

Before he could get an answer, a group of imperials appeared ahead of them. Noah drew his sword and they charged into them without stopping. It was hard to breathe, Noah's chest seemed to be one massive bruise, but he could not give up. If he could protect Ashe then he must do so.

The passage out of Draklor took them by surprise, all the more so as it was not guarded. It seemed to have taken them to a junkyard.

'Draklor also designs airships,' said Judge Bunansa. 'This is where they leave those that don't meet approval.'

'So you've brought us to a place full of airships we cannot use. Is there a way out of this place?' said Vossler.

'I think we might be surprised,' said Al-Cid.

'I certainly hope so,' said Judge Bunansa. 'This way please.'

He lead them to an airship that seemed no better than the others, outside scratched by other scrap metal and rusted. But he opened the doors and lead them into an interior that could have belonged on a luxury liner. It looked like a miracle.

'It would have aroused suspicion if I'd given her a new coat of paint, I'll make it up to her once we're away,' said Judge Bunansa, patting the side of the ship. 'Welcome to the Strahl.'

He slid easily into the drivers seat and soon the engines were running. They took off, the engines sounding surly as they did. There were some dramatic lurches and Judge Bunansa played with some more dials.

'I wonder if I fixed the suspension properly,' he said.

'You wonder?' demanded Ashe.

'I'm not actually a professional engineer,' he said.

Noah thought that Judge Bunansa was trying to worry them, and he was too tired to worry. He slumped into a chair instead and concentrated on breathing.

'Noah, how are you?' asked Ashe, coming over to his side. She hated to see them hurt, and he hated to be the one to make her look so grim.

'Well enough. I am sorry,' he said.

'No need,' said Ashe.

The engines sound smoothed out and then there was a loud whoop. They looked forward to see Judge Bunansa, still in his armour, leaning over the controls and grinning like a child. 'Look at her go!' he called. 'See what my girl can do when she isn't being held in a scrap yard? Archadia's full of fools!'

Ashe drew away from Noah and towards the front, beside Judge Bunansa. His joy must have been contagious, because soon she was looking out the window with a small smile on her lips.


	6. Chapter 6

'Where to, princess?' asked Judge Bunansa.

'King Raithwall's tomb,' Ashe answered firmly.

'May I ask why?' said Al-Cid.

'Dr Cid was right, we need stones of our own. And yet I am loth to follow the advice of a madman, so we go where there is already a stone I might lay claim to,' she said.

Al-Cid stood up and walked around to stand in front of her. 'And yet you are still following his advice. I came to destroy nethecite, not to gain more.'

'I mean to reclaim a portion of my birthright to replace that which was lost. As the one who brought it without my knowledge you bear some responsibility for that loss,' said Ashe.

'That's hardly fair, you could not have entered the stillshrine without it,' said Al-Cid.

'So, we're going after nethecite,' said Judge Bunansa. 'I've gathered why, but do you really believe it will help?'

'I owe it to my people to have the means to defend them,' said Ashe. 'You will be rewarded for your aid in this.'

Judge Bunansa and Ashe looked at one another for a moment, and Judge Bunansa was the one to look away.

'I'd sooner have treasure than nethecite,' he said.

'There is treasure in King Raithwall's tomb. You may have that,' said Ashe.

'A worthy begining to my career as a sky pirate,' said Judge Bunansa thoughtfully. 'I suggest we make a stop for food antd items, but otherwise full speed ahead.'

'And I have no desire to be a part of this. When you stop for items you can set me down,' said Al-Cid.

Ashe surprised them all by taking his hand. 'You have been through our side in so much,' she said. 'And I am sorry that we have angered you. I shall be sad to lose you.'

Al-Cid bowed before her. 'Dalmasca's finest flower is not the one who has angered me. But I cannot agree with your desicion, nor fight at your side for a thing I believe should not be found. So I must take my leave, and be sad to lose you as well.'

'Village coming up,' said Judge Bunansa. 'Brace yourselves.'

The landing was rough, and Noah felt he had acquired enough bruises already without another set. Judge Bunansa had clearly not been joking about the suspension, even if the airship flew at least as well as any Noah had been on while it was up. Al-Cid bowed to Ashe once again and strode off purposefully, possibly looking for a teleport crystal. They ate and Ashe went shopping for items while the rest of them looked at weapons. Judge Bunansa picked up a gun.

'They're no good, a decent crossbow shoots better,' said Noah.

'But I would look better with a gun,' said Judge Bunansa, sighting along the barrel and pretending to shoot.

'It hardly goes with your armour, Judge Bunansa,' said Noah.

'Ffamran, please,' said Judge Bunansa. Ffamran. He looked down at himself and grimaced. 'Do you suppose I could by some new clothes as well? I'm thoroughly sick of this armour.'

'We could give him that much since he's flying us,' said Noah to Vossler, who had the money.

'He should sell his armour,' replied Vossler.

'Excellent idea,' said Ffamran. 'Come on, I saw an armour stall around here.'

They sold the Judge armour and, once Ffamran had exchanged his leather padding for normal clothes, went to find Ashe. Ffamran bought the gun on their way back.

'So that is what took you so long,' said Ashe. 'Welcome back, sir skypirate.'

'And as my first adventure, will the princess consent to be kidnapped?' asked Ffamran, opening the airship's door.

'How could I refuse?' Ashe stepped through, Ffamran following.

Noah and Vossler exchanged looks before following. As soon as they got rid of one flirt, they picked up another.

They landed outside the sandsea, once jagd meant the Strahl could no longer fly. Ffamran stood there looking wistfully at it for a moment.

'Come on, we can't take it with us,' called Vossler.

Ffamran, shook his head and caught up with them. 'I know I'll get the invisibility field working one day,' he said.

'You think somebody's going to steal it? We're in the middle of the desert,' said Vossler.

'And she looks like a pile of junk,' added Noah.

'Don't insult her, my girl's a lot prettier on the inside,' said Ffamran, fairly mildly.

'All men say that,' replied Noah.

At that moment they came to the edge of the sandsea itself. Noah bent down to the water, only to jump back dismayed when he saw no reflection.

'What's wrong?' asked Vossler.

'Nothing.' Noah put a hand into the strange sea, and found sand running through his fingers. The Sandsea, he should have known, and yet the sand was so fine a powder that the wind could make it run in waves. More like to yellow water than dust.

'I never thought to see it for myself,' said Ashe, staring outwards.

'No more did I,' said Ffamran. 'But we can look at it and walk at the same time.'

They did, and wonder at their surroundings wore off as the sand stuck in their throats and made the heat seem worse than high summer in the estersand. Noah tried not to pant, the heat and stiffness from his earlier bruises were making walking a chore. Ashe passed around a water skin, she looked tired too but still poised. She stopped suddenly, holding a hand up for silence. After a moment Noah heard the faint rumbling too.

'What is it?' asked Vossler.

'Someone that doesn't want us here,' sid Ffamran, pointing.

A fishlike beast dove out of the water, a wasted creature in a dark cloak holding onto its back. The creatures skull-like face was fixed in a grin. More of them appeared, closer to the walkways.

'Run,' shouted Vossler.

They did, but the creatured kept coming, hauling themselves up onto the walkway. Noah drew his sword and struck out at them, finding that for all their fearsome appearance they were disorganised warriors. He and Vossler came to the front of the group, fighting up close, Ffamran used his gun to pick them off from a distance while Ashe used white magic to keep them all whole. After that it was just a matter of keeping going, keeping slicing until his arms were covered in strange dark blood and his way was paved with mangled limbs.

'Entite!' called Ashe.

Noah shoved a creature off his sword with his foot. 'What do we do about it?' he asked.

'Fight as little as possible and run,' said Vossler. 'Keep pheonix down in hand.'

Noah nodded, pulling some out of his pouch with his left hand. He did not sheath his sword. They tried to get around the entite without running into the creatures they were fighting, but the creatures kept coming to them. Vossler beheaded one with a swipe, and Noah saw the entite pulse. They ran. The first flash took Ashe, Noah dropped pheonix down on her without stopping. The second took him.

The flare of pheonix down surrounded him, and he came too to find himself on his feet. The others were standing there, Vossler glaring at Ffamran.

'What happened?' asked Noah.

'I ran, waited until it calmed down, and then came back and revived you all,' said Ffamran, wearily.

'You could have left us to be hacked apart by those creatures,' said Vossler.

'Better than all of us being unconscious,' said Ffamran.

Ashe turned and started walking away, making them stop arguing to catch up with her. Noah kept his sword drawn, he could see the creatures were still around.

'We should never have brought someone with so little loyalty,' said Vossler.

Noah shook his head. 'We probably owe him our lives.'

Ffamran looked startled, and then smiled. 'I wasn't expecting gratitude from such noble knights,' he said, his voice mocking as his smile had not been. They fell back into their earlier formation without a word as they came upon the next group of creatures.

At the end of the last walkway Noah looked back at the way they had come, a path of blood. The sandsea itself looked just the same, and just as awe inspiring, as it had at first.

'I feel like we destroyed a whole race,' he said.

'We'll find out on the way back, won't we?' said Ffamran.

'Brat,' muttered Noah.

Ashe shook her head and tore her gaze away from the Sandsea. She turned towards the King Raithwall's Tomb and started to walk.

#

The giant bird outside the tomb left Noah and Vossler waving their weapons uselessly before turning to healing Ashe and Ffamran who had more useful weapons. Ashe used her mist technique again, and this time Noah remembered to ask her to teach it to them.

'It's not difficult, once you understand the method,' said Ashe. 'If we rest here for a little, I can teach it to you before we go in.'

They agreed and sat in the sand outside the tomb learning. Somewhat to Noah's surprise she taught Ffamran as well. Once they all thought they would be able to do it Ashe touched the waystone, and the familiar feel of teleportation settled over them.

The first thing Noah noticed about the tomb was the cold. Outside it had been baking, this place turned sweat into icy rivulets down his back. Ashe shivered, and wrapped her arms around herself. The flittering seekers were easy to bat aside, they reminded Noah of the redmaws in the Stillshrine. He was already braced for it when the first skeleton attacked, and soon turned it into a pile of bones.

'Did King Raithwall need to leave all his possessions in such places?' he asked.

'They would keep out all who might rob his grave,' said Ashe. She lead them to a balcony from which they could see the entire tomb it seemed, alight with flickering torches. It was enormous, balcony after balcony after balcony, and exactly the same up as down so that taking a step while looking made one stumble and lose all sense of balance. Noah shook his head.

'And did he also hope thieves would get lost?' he asked.

'I hope not. We don't have that much food,' said Ffamran.

'I have every right to be here,' said Ashe, firmly.

'Starvation can happen to anyone,' said Vossler. 'But we knew what we were risking, and we shall take care not to lose ourselves.'

They walked on, rather subdued, each of them trying to commit every turn to memory. Skeletons were expected, the monsterous candles were not, but both were dealt with. The bird creatures, deep in some ritual disturbed as the group passed them, they ran from. Later they stepped into a corridor, and stopped for a moment when they found there were no fiends in sight. Noah looked at the corridors wall, carved with an ugly and fearsome statue. The arms unfolded and the eyes flashed alight.

'The wall!' he shouted. The others looked round, confused and then astonished. They all turned and ran without anyone needing to give the order. Only to find themselves in another corridor with a demon wall coming straight at them. There was nowhere to run.

Noah caught Vossler's eye, they drew their swords. Ashe caught their arms before they could charge and choved something that looked like a wineskin between them.

'Drink,' she said.

This was clearly not the time for questions, Noah gulped some down and handed it to Vossler. Noah started to charge, and felt a sudden joy bubbling up inside him. The demon wall looked less fearsome than it had before, nothing he could not defeat. His sword landed hard and ground along its claw. It flipped him backwards, and he heard himself laughing as he charged again. He was half aware of Ffamran doing something to the torches and Vossler attacking beside him, but it seemed distant and insignificant. Several times he charged and each time it threw him back, but there was no pain. Once, when the joy drained from the fight and pain and fatigue hit him, Ashe handed him the wineskin again. The pain was forced out of his body, and he carried on attacking until only a pile of rubble was left.

He looked around for another enemy, he wanted to fight and fight and never have to stop, but there was none. When Ashe moved off he followed her without thinking, certain she would lead him to another foe. He hacked a few skeletons apart, but they were hardly worth his time. He was looking around for something bigger when the pain hit him again. He leant against a wall catching his breath.

'Are you well?' asked Vossler.

'Well enough. So that was Bacchus' wine. I can see why the army has it banned,' said Noah. He pushed himself upright and licked his lips, seeking a last taste of the wine's mad energy. 'I'm better than I should be, thinking on it. That wine prevented actual injury as well as pain.'

'It did,' said Ashe. 'But we should use it sparingly, we are better off in control of ourselves for the most part.'

'I'm glad you didn't offer it to me,' said Ffamran. 'I'd sooner not go mad.'

Noah remembered the boy's father and said nothing.

'It is close,' said Ashe, stopping. The tombs defences had made the same impression on each of them, because they all reached for a potion. 'We should use the mist techniques on any guardian.'

'What of the wine?' asked Noah.

Vossler shook his head. 'We will need our wits.'

'Agreed,' said Ashe. 'Come, we are nearly at our destination.'

They descended through mist as thick as smoke. Noah thought he could feel it wrapping around his joints, until he recognised the sensation of protective magic. When he looked back he could see Ashe determinedly casting it on each of them in turn. He nodded his thanks, and drew his sword before continuing.

They entered a stone room, the mist lying even thicker there, and saw a creature standing on a platform at the far side. Another esper. This one was huge and muscular with a flame red beard and curling rams' horns. Another, smaller version of itself was attached to its chest. As they entered it woke and reached for something that looked for all the world like a giant key, only with a blade on the bottom instead of teeth. They advanced to meet it, staying together, and then Ashe stopped and threw her head back.

The pulsing starlight filled the world, Ashe shone bright and pure with it, and the esper was still for a moment. This time it felt different though, the pulsing was reaching for Noah and seemed to beat in time with his heart. When Ashe threw the last of the light at the monster he felt a signal twitch through his nerves.

Fire, spinning in a wheel behind him, edged with blue darkness. Tendrils of it ran up his arms, but it froze instead of burning. The pain felt right, and he gathered cold fire between his hands to fling at his enemy. It wasn't enough, he needed to signal Vossler as Ashe had signalled him, he tried and held Vossler in his mind even as fire flowed between his fingers. When the last of it had been thrown, he leant forwards propping himself on his sword. Vossler was already gathering mist.

Vossler's attack was strange, instead of changing to light or fire the mist only thickened around him and then sped out as an iridescent tornado. It caught the esper up completely, he roared but could not avoid it. Noah waited for Ffamran to come in, but either he or Vossler had failed. There was no further quickening.

The esper roared again and started laying about itself with the its weapon. Ffamran cast an apologetic glance at Ashe and backed off to reload his gun. Could he not have done that earlier? Noah took a blow from its blade on his shield and managed a stab at its wrist. The club end of its weapon hit him, and he rolled with it coming up to strike again. Ffamran had got his gun loaded, and the bullets' hits caused the esper's skin to steam. Water shot, so that was why he had reloaded.

Vossler had got behind it, and struck there. It turned to face him, allowing Noah to strike from behind. They harried it between them, taking injuries when they must, although the warmth of healing spells touched them every time it got too much. Then the smaller one on the esper's breast, a conjoined twin or another part of its body, spread its arms. This fire burned.

Pheonix down, a gentler fire, revived Noah, and he entered the fray again at once. White magic hit him more frequently after that, Ashe trying to make sure he could withstand another attack. The esper clubbed Vossler down, and stabbed the blade through him. Noah flung himself at it, trying to hit before it could strike a fatal blow. His sword went through the smaller one's neck, and the whole creature went up in golden mist and sparks.

Noah ignored the scroll hanging in the air and knelt down to grasp Vossler's shoulders. The weapon had struck through his shoulder, and out his chest. Pray the gods it had not hit a lung. At least the weapon had faded when the beast did, they would not have to worry about removing it.

'Vossler! Can you hear me?' he demanded.

'Aye. I hear you,' gasped Vossler. 'Sorry. Not quick enough.'

'No, it was not your fault. I should have reached it sooner,' said Noah.

'Here. A high potion,' said Ashe. She poured it onto Vossler's shoulder and into the wound. He hissed when she did, the wound must be bad for a potion to cause more pain. She looked at Noah, a question she would not say aloud.

'He will be fine,' said Noah. 'But we need to get out of here.'

'Soon,' said Ashe. 'We must get the dawn shard first.'

'You go then. We shall wait here,' said Noah.

'No. I can stand,' said Vossler haltingly. 'And I shall be no safer with us split up.'

'Come then,' said Ashe.

Ffamran and Noah followed her out of the room, supporting Vossler between them. She took them through a passage to another room, one with an altar floating in the air. Ashe stepped up to the altar, staring at it. Noah could not see any nethecite there, he hoped tomb robbers had not had it after all. Ashe reached out and then stopped. She gasped, and stood there with her hand held out.

'No,' she whispered in a voice choked with tears. 'No. Tell me who did this, tell me…'

Noah followed her gaze, and saw behind her the white, transparent figure she had seen.

'Lord Rasler!' he shouted. He made to go forwards, but stopped since he could not let go of Vossler.

The ghost smiled sweetly at Ashe, and drifted through her hand when she tried to grasp his arm. At the edge of the room another ghost fell into step behind him.

'Basch!' shouted Noah. 'Brother! Wait, talk to me.'

He let go of Vossler, hardly aware that he had done so and ran towards Basch's ghost. But Basch showed no sign of having heard, and marched after Rasler through the room's wall. Noah slammed his fist helplessly against the wall and turned to Ashe. The same pain he felt was mirrored in her eyes. Could it be true? And if it was, was Rabanastre itself fallen along with its truest defenders? Was everything lost, or only everything that mattered?

'What did you see?' asked Ffamran.

Noah and Ashe turned to him at once. He was still holding Vossler, taking most of his weight, and the strain showed in his face.

'Did you see nothing?' Ashe demanded.

'Nothing,' he confirmed.

'I too saw nothing,' said Vossler. 'Perhaps you should tell us what you saw.'

'Lord Rasler. And my brother. We must get back at once,' said Noah.

He helped Ffamran take Vossler's weight once again. They left the chamber in silence.


	7. Chapter 7

Ashe made them stop to eat on the sand outside the tomb. The strain around her eyes kept Noah from arguing, but when she insisted they sleep there too he had to protest.

'What of Lord Rasler, and my brother? And Rabanastre itself, we cannot delay when we are needed.'

'If those were their ghosts we saw, then no amount of hurrying can bring us to their sides,' said Ashe. It was not unusual for her to sit with her back straight and her head held high, but she looked frozen. The life and colour had drained from her. 'Do not argue with me, we sleep here. We will start early tomorrow.'

'Very well, your majesty,' said Noah.

'They are either perfectly well, or dead. I don't see any reason for hurrying at all,' said Ffamran.

Noah scowled at him. 'To know. And if they are dead we will have vengeance.'

'Yes,' whispered Ashe. 'Vengeance, by any means we have.' Between her hands the dawn shard flickered with reflected firelight.

'Not with my help,' said Ffamran. 'Not if you plan to use that on my homeland. I only came here for the treasure, which apparently doesn't exist.'

Ashe pulled something from her waistband and held it out to him. It glowed with its own light and not the fire's, a scroll, the esper's contract. 'King Raithwall's treasure,' said Ashe. 'Your prize.'

'I was rather hoping for something I could spend,' said Ffamran. 'This isn't going to get the Strahl a new paint job, not unless espers do manual labour.'

'Leave it then,' said Vossler. 'Lady Ashe, it belongs to Raithwall's line. Think of the use it could be in the hands of one loyal to you, if you do not want it yourself. Or if Lord Rasler had it.'

'Rasler may well be dead, and I will not cheat Ffamran of his due,' said Ashe. 'Ffamran, take it.'

Ffamran cautiously took the scroll and held it against his chest, grimacing as it faded into him through his clothes.

'I'm not sure I'll ever have the nerve to summon it, but I thank you, princess.'

Vossler snorted. 'It's unlike you to be spooked by a vision, Lady Ashe. And to give away a valuable weapon because of it even less.'

Ashe shook her head, she was breathing deeply in a way that seemed likely to turn to sobs at any moment. 'It was no vision, half seen or imaginary. I saw Rasler before me as clearly as I see you now, and Basch beside him. Think as you please, but I must prepare myself for the worst.'

'While hoping for the best,' said Ffamran. 'That tomb would have spooked an adamantoise, so I wouldn't give in to despair just yet.'

'I do not intend to give in at all,' said Ashe coldly. She moved to her bedroll, bending over it in a way that hid her face. Noah longed to go to her, but was afraid sympathy might cause the tears she was trying so hard to suppress. Instead he volunteered to take first watch, knowing he would get no sleep either way.

The night was cold in this part of desert, and the stars gleamed brighter than diamonds in the clear sky. Noah picked out those constellations he could remember, some from Landis while others were learnt in Rabanastre. It kept him awake, his body was desperate for sleep even as his mind spun with thoughts and anxieties. He turned sharply at the sound of movement, only to find Ffamran behind him.

'Weren't you supposed to have woken me by now?' Ffamran asked, sitting beside him.

'No point, I doubt I'll sleep tonight.'

'I've never believed in ghosts myself,' said Ffamran. 'Nor any kind of spirit found outside a bottle.'

'Spectres exist,' said Noah. With some malice he added, 'And doesn't Dr Cid have a pet ghost?'

Ffamran's silence spoke louder than if he had answered.

'Sorry,' said Noah. 'That's none of my concern, I know.'

'I suppose whatever you saw is none of mine,' said Ffamran. 'Let's both stop minding each other's business.'

They sat in silence, breath steaming in the air before them. Noah was the one that spoke first.

'If Rabanastre has fallen, where will you go?' he asked.

Ffamran shrugged, and waved at the fabulous stars. 'Where I please, of course. What else would a famous sky pirate do?'

'Famous?'

'Not yet, of course. But I will be. Under another name, probably, but still.'

'Why change your name? You don't seem to think piracy something to be ashamed of,' said Noah.

'Being the son of Dr Cidolfus Bunansa is something to be ashamed of. I'd sooner leave that behind me,' said Ffamran bitterly. 'Not that I can. Whether Rabanastre has fallen or not, I think you're stuck with me for now. At least until I've sorted out some of the trouble he causes.'

'You are not to blame for your father's actions.'

'Blame, no. But I can't pretend I have nothing to do with him either. Perhaps under other circumstances, but not now.'

Noah nodded. 'You're a brave man.'

'A brave and noble sky pirate, in fact,' corrected Ffamran. He looked at the sky. 'It's past midnight, you should get some sleep. No need for me to wake either of the others, I can watch until dawn now.'

'Agreed. Good night, Ffamran,' said Noah. He left the boy watching the night sky, perhaps picking out Archadian constellations, and was asleep as soon as he lay down. Dawn woke him from dreams of picking through rubble, all that remained of Rabanastre, pursued by rotting corpses with Basch's face. He felt less rested than when he had laid down, and faintly sick, but no less eager to tackle the Sandsea once again.

Ffamran had been right, far from destroying the Urataan Yensa they had not even diminished their numbers. The wind had picked up and Noah could feel his skin being gently scoured away, his hands were slippery with blood again, he had to grip his sword hard enough to make his wrists ache. He was tired, for all he knew Basch was dead and Rabanastre fallen, and these stupid desert creatures were keeping him from going home. They weren't even strong or organised, they were simply in his way. In sudden fury he flung himself forwards, hacking away limbs and splitting heads that looked like skulls already.

The others hurried forwards as he clove a path, he could hear them at his back although between sweat and sunlight he could barely see. No time to wipe his eyes, although he knew it was foolish to press on half blinded. He heard Ffamran's shot whistle past him, a spell of Ashe's grasped him gently for a moment. Vossler shouted something, he heard it clearly but couldn't make it out, and someone hauled him back to the safety of the group.

'Did something cast Beserk on you without us knowing?' demanded Vossler. The words came out uneven, betraying how hard he still found it to catch his breath.

'We must break through,' said Noah. He wiped his eyes as he spoke, Vossler was pale and frowning, Ashe and Ffamran were still fighting with no attention to spare for this conversation. Noah turned to help them, but stopped when Vossler caught his shoulder again. The grip was so weak he could easily have shrugged it off, and for that reason he turned instead of pulling away.

Vossler looked at him, still frowning but now in anxiety more than anger. Noah braced himself for pity or remonstrances. 'Do not hit an entite,' Vossler said.

Noah shook his head and clasped Vossler's hand. 'I will take care,' he said.

'See that you do.'

A blade sweeping by his ear forced Noah to duck and turn, the creature was down with a bullet through its skull before he could hit it. He reciprocated by taking out one pressing towards Ffamran. After that it was back to fighting, although with more caution. They day wore on under the heavy sun, until at last they reached the furthest shore.

'Well, I'm home. Did you miss me?' asked Ffamran, swinging himself into the pilot's seat of the Strahl.

'Just launch,' said Vossler, before Noah could.

'Hold on to something then,' said Ffamran, and obligingly launched before anyone had a chance to sit down. Noah caught Ashe with one hand and the back of a seat with the other. Vossler, still more unsteady than he seemed, landed on the floor.

'Ah, sorry. Perhaps I rushed that a bit,' said Ffamran.

Vossler hauled himself into a chair. 'I should wring your neck,' he said, although without much rancour.

Noah dropped into the chair beside him, and Ashe sat down in front of them. She leant towards the window as if willing the ship to go faster.

'How long before we are home?' she asked.

'Some hours yet. We should make it by nightfall,' said Ffamran, checking a chart on his control panel.

Home. The streets would be full of colour and sound and playing children. Even wartime could not wholly take the innocence of Rabanastre's children, who had lost so much yet still found time to play together. There would be a world in which seeq, bangaa and moogles mingled with men and the occasional vierra, so different from Archades that allowed so few into such a sterile city. He and Vossler and Basch would drink together and swap tales of what they had done, although Basch might not approve of some of his. But if only he was there to disapprove it would be worth all the treasures of the world.

'Strange to think that Rabanastre feels like home,' he said quietly.

'How so strange?' asked Vossler. 'You have lived in Rabanastre for fifteen years now, by my count.'

'So long? Then no, not so strange,' said Noah. The fates were toying with him though, if they let him see Rabanastre as his home only when he may already have lost it.

Vossler's hand landed on his shoulder. 'We shall see it soon,' he said.

Noah stared out the window, sick with fear and hope. Every sand dune had him braced for the sight of Rabanastre's ruins, hours before they were even in Dalmasca. The towns on the outskirts of Dalmasca had crumbled walls and airships hovering over them, the few people around had a hunted look. Yet they were there, whatever had happened nethecite had not been used. When Rabanastre appeared over a dune Ashe cried out as if she had seen something miraculous. She had, the city was unharmed.

Closer in they could see the changes war had wrought. The fountains were not running, and people hurried their bargaining, looking skywards often. It was good, so very good, to see it at all, but after that first cry Ashe had once again frozen. Noah too did not dare give in to relief, not with those cold ghosts at the back of his mind. The city might be standing, and Basch might still be dead. The Strahl was soon recognised as an Empire airship and people hurried from its shadow. Soon other airships were gathering near them.

'Let me talk to them,' said Ashe. 'We shall be shot if I do not.'

Ffamran handed her the mouthpiece at once, though not without a flourish.

'This is Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca. Do not shoot. Stand down your weapons. This is Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca.'

'Lady Ashe,' replied one of the fleet. It was not a voice Noah knew, the knights fought strictly on the ground. 'Allow us to escort you to the palace.'

A reasonable compromise, since anyone impersonating Ashe would still have had to face them.

'Agreed,' said Ashe.

The airships fell in all around them. Ffamran snorted. 'The Strahl could outrun them all,' he said.

'To what purpose?' asked Vossler. 'We want to head for the palace.'

Noah stood up from his seat, unwise during landing with the shaky suspension, but he needed to see who was waiting for them. Ashe too had risen and they both stared together. As they approached the palace they could see Rasler waiting to welcome them. Behind him, at the head of the knights, was Basch.

Ashe left the airship first, stepping down lightly onto the paving stones. Rasler's face lit up and he held an arm out to her, she ignored it and flung her own arms around his neck, hiding any tears against his chest. Noah ignored all protocol to embrace Basch before they had done their duty in escorting Ashe. He was warm and real, and Noah drew back with the last traces of his fears put to rest. Ashe pulled away from Rasler, taking his arm instead, and the knights fell in behind them on the road to the palace, while Ffamran hovered behind with no place to be. There was no crowd to welcome the princess home, nobody had known that she would be here.

'Is something wrong?' asked Basch softly, he had fallen in beside Noah as they walked. It was Vossler, on Noah's other side, who answered.

'He thought he saw your ghost. Ashe saw it also, and Lord Rasler's as well. They have been half mad with it, on the way back through the Sandsea.' Vossler's voice was halfway between concern and irritation. He and Basch exchanged a look across Noah that spoke volumes.

'You would see things differently had it appeared to you,' said Noah, hotly.

Ffamran was sent to wait outside while they were debriefed, Ashe standing and reporting as conscisely as any man at arms. Rasler listened, his face showing his response, darkening at the danger in the stillshrine and relieved at the loss of the empire's nethecite. Basch too listened and Noah watched his face when Ashe spoke of him taking Larsa hostage, but he could not discern Basch's thoughts. Ashe described the ghosts they had seen as well, to puzzled concern from both of their listeners.

'And so we returned to Rabanastre,' Ashe finished. 'With nethecite, no more or less than when we started. And although I have destroyed the empire's nethecite they can yet make more. Loth as I am to follow the advice of a madman, perhaps our only hope lies in the secret of manufactured nethecite. In Gureveigan.'

'May I speak, your majesty?' asked Noah. With permission granted he continued. 'They could not make more nethecite with no laboratory. Nor would they be so powerful with their emperor gone.'

In the following silence Ashe laid the dawn shard on the map strewn table. 'We do not know how to use it,' she said.

'The one used on Nabudis was dropped,' answered Noah.

'We cannot,' said Basch, abruptly. 'Your majesty, it is not only the emperor and his scientists who live in Archades.'

Noah turned on him. 'They did not care who lived in Nabudis!'

'We are not them.'

'Enough,' said Ashe, interrupting the arguement. 'Vossler, have you any thoughts on this?'

Vossler nodded. 'The nethecite should be a last resort. Yet we must be ready to use it if we are driven that far.'

Ashe turned to Rasler. 'Perhaps in Gureveigan I could learn some way to use it without destroying whole lands to save my people. Little as I like it, I think I must take the chance.'

Rasler looked down at King Raminas' map. He studied it for a moment and then looked straight at Ashe. 'I do not wish to lose you again so soon. And yet you may be right. We are far outnumbered, and need all that we might hope to lay hands on. Perhaps it would be better if I were to go, you are the queen of this kingdom.'

'Not crowned yet. Nor tried on the field of battle. Better for you to stay, and I to go. Much as I am loth to part with you again,' said Ashe. They stood looking at each other, a gaze as intimate as a kiss. Noah looked away, embarrassed.

'Let us talk with Ffamran,' said Rasler. 'We may learn more of what we are fighting against.'

They did, and brought in new guards as well, sending Noah and Vossler to rest and Basch to escort them. The first place they went was the food hall, and the smell of simmering stew reminded Noah how long it had been since his last meal. He and Vossler were both concerned cheifly with eating for a while. Once they had taken the edge off their hunger and slowed down, Noah found he had questions to ask.

'How goes it here? I see they have not yet reached Rabanastre,' he said.

'They have not, and yet we are stretched very thin. They come at us from all directions, and we are fighting often. You have been sorely needed here, and much missed. But you succeeded in your mission, and have done us much good in that,' said Basch. He seemed to have put their disagreement over the nethecite aside for now.

'Indeed we have. You thought us chasing a figment, did you not?' said Noah.

'I'm sorry. I saw no reason to give credence to such a thing,' said Basch.

'But it was real,' Noah pressed.

'Smugness is unbecoming a knight,' said Vossler, smiling. 'Come, Basch. You were telling us how things stand here.'

Basch shook his head. 'We are pressed on all sides, and constantly pushed back. Yet our citizens carry on nearly as usual, and in that we still have hope.'

And if we did not have hope, would you leave us then? thought Noah, biting his tongue on words he could not unsay. But Basch looked at him with a calmness that was tinged with sorrow.

'This is our land, there is not one among the knights that would not die for it,' Basch said.

'I do not doubt it,' replied Noah, making the words an apology. 'I have been glad to see you again, if we leave once more will you be joining us?'

'To chase after more stones, when the one we have could destroy half a country? I have no wish for such a thing.'

Noah looked away, readying his argument, and saw Ffamran standing by the door looking unsure whether to enter or not. For a moment he saw the ghost of a memory, a boy almost the same age uncertain of his welcome and hovering in the same manner. Himself, unsure of whether there was a place for him in the country his brother had fit into so easily. Noah waved Ffamran over and poured a drink for him.

'Many thanks,' said Ffamran, he took a drink. 'I think half the sandsea is still in my throat. It is hot here too, naturally it would be in a desert, but I'm used to somewhat gentler climes. And interrogation is thirsty work I've found.'

'What have you been doing since we left?' Vossler asked.

'Walking a thin line,' said Ffamran.

'You still consider Archadia your country?' asked Basch. From anyone else it would have been an accusation, Basch asked it without judgement.

'I'd as soon not consider any place my country. If your princess would let me I'd take the Strahl and be gone, free as a bird. Leaving war and family to others,' said Ffamran. He stared into his drink, as if he might find something there to make sense of it all.

Remebering their talk the night before, Noah doubted it. But he replied carefully, half hoping the boy would truly leave. This situation was a poor one for anyone to be entangled with. 'I doubt she would stop you. A sky pirate would be no threat to us.'

'In other circumstances I would have left with no regrets,' said Ffamran slowly, then he seemed to cheer up somewhat. 'But as I appear to be the leading man in this tale, I can hardly abandon it partway through.'

'I rather think Ashe is the leading lady,' said Noah, adopting a lighter tone himself.

'Too bad she's taken then. The leading lady should end up with the leading man, and I would have liked that,' said Ffamran.

'Do not go near Lady Ashe,' growled Noah.

Ffamran smirked and Vossler looked torn between scowling and laughing.

Basch stood up, and held a hand out to Noah. 'Lady Ashe said you were wounded, and Vossler too. You should both be seen to now you have eaten.'

'Mostly bruising. A hot bath will see to the worst of it,' said Noah. He took Basch's hand to help himself up.

'A bath does sound good,' said Ffamran. 'I don't suppose I could?'

'I'll take you there,' said Vossler. 'I don't trust you, but I think you've earned a bath.'

'Very wise, I wouldn't trust me either. I am a soon to be skypirate,' said Ffamran.

Vossler shook his head, and the four of them all headed for the baths.


	8. Chapter 8

A week and a half passed with preparations for the journey to Gureveigan mingling with arguments for and against using what they found there. Basch and Rasler, the ones who did not intend to come, were also the ones most against using nethecite for destruction. Vossler was for using it only as a last resort, as was Noah although he had slightly broader ideas about when to use a last resort. Ashe seemed caught between them, pale and quiet under the weight of the responsibilty; they all knew the final choice would rest with her. She was not the only one affected either, Rasler pored constantly over the maps and Noah and Basch found their conversations punctuated with so many tense silences they started avoiding each other. So Noah was alone when a young knight hailed him.

'What is it?' he asked. He did not know the man, and suspected the man did not know him either. He had addressed Noah as Captain fon Ronsenberg, which was usually resorted to by those who couldn't tell him from Basch.

'There's a young man asking for Al-Cid Margrace, sir,' said the knight.

'He's in Rozaria, as far as I have heard. Why would anyone look for him here?' asked Noah.

'I don't know, sir. The young man was very insistant.'

'Hey, you found Al-Cid yet?' The one asking the question was less a young man than a boy, he looked about fifteen. With his sun bleached hair and his accent he was also clearly Dalmascan, and most likely from Rabanastre itself. There was no chance of his being a Rozarrian spy, quite apart from the lack of subtlety.

'I told you to wait by the gate,' snapped the knight.

The boy shrugged and put his hands behind his head. 'Uh, sorry. I'd kinda been waiting a while already. So, is he here?'

'Why do you wish to know?' asked Noah.

The boy looked uncertain, but still met his eyes with brash confidence. 'It's private, sorry.'

'_You_ have private business with a son of the Emperor of Rozaria?' said Noah.

'I'm just the messenger. C'mon, can I see him now?'

'He is not here.'

The boy's face fell at that. He looked worried, and glanced around him as if seeking an answer to what to do next.

'Tell me why you wanted him and I will see what I can do. Who wanted to see him?' Noah asked. He wondered if Al-Cid's "little birds" might have used the boy as a messenger. It seemed unlikely.

'It really is private. Can I get a message to him, somehow? Someone's life could be at risk.'

The boy was clearly serious. But who would come to Al-Cid for help with their life at risk and come to the wrong place? Someone who knew he had been in Dalmasca, but not that he had left. Someone who knew him well enough to believe they would be helped, and who couldn't defend themselves. Someone who a child like this one would not only run messages for but feel protective of. Someone young, then.

'Larsa,' said Noah.

The boy's head came up with a jerk. 'You know him?'

'Yes.' Noah turned to the knight. 'Go and fetch my brother.'

Once the knight had left he turned back to the boy. 'What is your name? And how did you come to meet Larsa?'

'I'm Vaan. And I picked him up at the aerodrome, or he picked me up, I guess. Said he wanted to be taken to Al-Cid. He was really upset, so I said I'd help out. I don't know why he's looking for him, though. He's with my friend, Penelo, right now.'

Noah asked more questions, and by the time Basch arrived had only discovered that Vaan knew nothing about Larsa and very little about anything. But Larsa here, alone, meant a threat from inside Archadia. Lord Vayne, perhaps, or surely Larsa would have gone to his brother for help.

'I was told you wanted me,' said Basch as he reached them.

Noah turned to him and explained. 'If his life is in danger we should go to him at once,' he finished.

Basch frowned. 'Lady Ashe should be informed.'

'Later. If Larsa is truly in danger we must first get him under guard. At present he is without protection.'

'And we have spoken of his whereabouts,' said Basch. 'Agreed. But he will not come with you.'

'Nor with Vossler. And dare we send another?'

'Not when wolves may hide among us. Let us go.'

'So…you're coming with me, right?' said Vaan. 'Okay, just checking. Follow me.'

They set off through the city together, Basch watching Vaan thoughtfully. They had gone quite some way before he spoke.

'You look familiar,' he said, quietly.

'I had a brother. Reks. Maybe you met him,' said Vaan without looking up.

'Reks. I remember him, he was in my regiment in Nabudis. I am sorry.'

'Huh? What are you sorry for?' asked Vaan. 'He wanted to fight for Dalmasca. I really miss him, but I know its no one's fault he died. I'd like to fight for Dalmasca too, do you think I'm old enough?'

'No,' Basch and Noah said at once.

'Penelo's brothers are fighting, and they're not much older than me.'

'What would your parents think, to lose two sons so soon?' asked Basch.

'My parents are dead, they died in the plague. I live with Penelo's family now,' said Vaan.

'I'm sure her family would sooner not lose you, either,' said Basch. 'Especially with their sons already at war.'

'Yeah. I worry about them, too. Do you know how long the war's going to last?'

'That depends on how quickly we are willing to end it,' said Noah.

Basch sighed and turned away, while Vaan just looked confused. Fortunately they reached Penelo's house before he could demand an explanation.

'Hey guys, I'm back,' said Vaan, as he stepped through the door.

Noah followed and saw a girl sitting on a couch beside Larsa. He was looking earnestly at her when they came in, but a moment later had slid down from his seat, landing on his feet with his sword out. He stepped in front of the girl, presumably Penelo.

Noah held his hands out, empty. 'I mean no harm,' he said.

'Larsa? I thought he knew you?' said Vaan.

'Vaan, who are these people?' asked Penelo at the same moment.

'I am Captain Basch fon Ronsenberg, and this is Captain Noah fon Ronsenberg. Are your parents here?'

'They're working,' said Penelo, watching them mistrustfully. 'They haven't met Larsa yet.'

'Please, do not harm these people. They do not know who I am,' said Larsa, still holding his weapon out with a despairing determination.

'Do you truly believe we would harm our own citizens for helping you?' demanded Noah.

'I believe you've mistaken our intent,' said Basch, more calmly. 'We came because we heard your life was in danger. If you allow it, we will take you to see Lady Ashe.'

'And if I do not allow it?'

'Then tell us what you would have us do.'

Larsa's eyes flicked from Basch to Noah and back again. 'I wish to speak with Al-Cid.'

'He is not here,' said Basch. 'He returned to Rozaria without stopping here.'

'He left us shortly after we left Archades,' added Noah. 'He had no interest in our mission beyond destroying nethecite. And he was…displeased with how I had treated you. I am sorry.'

'What did you do to Larsa?' Penelo stood up and placed her hand on Larsa's shoulder.

'He used me as a hostage and threatened to kill me,' said Larsa. 'I was forced to betray my country, even Al-Cid tricked me.'

'But he's the one you want to find, right?' said Vaan.

'He is the only one I can go to.' There should not have been so much bitterness in the voice of one so young.

Basch knelt down before Larsa, ignoring the sword blade which was now at his eye level. Noah remained standing, entirely willing to leave this to Basch.

'I do not believe my brother would have killed you,' said Basch. 'His intent was to prevent your calling the guards, there would have been no chance of that with you dead. I know he frightened you, and I cannot agree with his actions, but I do not think he would have harmed you then. And I know he will not now.'

Larsa considered this, then slowly lowered his weapon. 'Will you send a message to Al-Cid?'

'Lady Ashe will,' said Basch. 'If you will come to the palace to speak with her.'

'Your friend can come with you, if you wish,' added Noah. Penelo's hand had tightened on Larsa's shoulder, and he was leaning slightly into her without realising it, now he pulled away from her.

'I will come alone,' he said.

'Are you sure?' asked Penelo. 'I wouldn't mind coming with you, you know.'

'I have no right to ask you to face danger for me. I owe you a great deal already.'

'You don't have to ask,' replied Penelo. She looked at Noah. 'I'm coming to the palace.'

'Me too,' said Vaan.

Penelo turned on him with a long suffering expression. 'Vaan, someone's going to have to tell my parents where I am.'

'Oh yeah. So why do I have to stay?'

'Because I've already said I'm going with Larsa. Just wait here and be patient, you can catch us up at the palace.'

'Vaan and your parents will be able to join you later,' agreed Basch. 'Come, let us go.'

He led and Noah brought up the rear, Larsa clinging to Penelo's hand in between. Noah turned back as a thought hit him.

'Vaan, do not tell anyone Larsa was here.'

'Yeah, I got it. I'll stay quiet.'

They had travelled half the length of the street when Vaan called after them. 'See you later, Penelo! Take care, Larsa!'

Noah caught Basch's eye, they both shook their heads and looked away.

Larsa, with Penelo allowed to stay, was left to talk with Ashe and Rasler. Amost as soon as the door had closed on them Basch walked away.

'Where are you going?' asked Noah.

'Unlike you, I still have duties here. I am going to my post.'

'My duty is to accompany Lady Ashe when she leaves.'

Basch hesitated and half turned back. 'I fear duty has become a matter of choice.'

'Meaning my choice to leave, or yours to stay?'

'Either. We are sworn knights, these matters are for our Queen to decide.'

'She chose to leave the choice to us, in questioning that you question her judgement.'

'Aye, perhaps.' Noah waited for Basch to walk away, but instead Basch turned fully and walked back to him. 'If she takes only those who most believe in her mission they will counsel her to use what she finds.'

'Then come. Put your own view to her, you need not expect me to change mine to accomodate you.'

'You were worried about Larsa, earlier. That we would not be there in time and he would have no one to defend him. Yet you would have dropped nethecite on his home, even before he had left it. Will you not think on that?'

'I have thought. We simply disagree. There are children in Rabanastre too, and their parents do not plot to strip away the homes of others.'

'Once I could have said the same of us.'

With that Basch did turn and leave, for the duties that Noah was currently no part of. Although he hated to admit it, it was uncomfortable being in the palace with no place to be. With the routines of fifteen years stripped away, and no men under his command to consider, he had little idea what to do with himself. Still, Vossler was in the same boat and he would not yet have heard of Larsa's arrival.

Vossler listened to the news thoughtfully. 'So, Larsa is here alone. You suspect Vayne of threatening him?'

'Suspect, yes. We shall know soon.' Noah leaned against the balcony on which they stood. Below he could see Ffamran painting the _Strahl_, a laborious task for one man. Noah thought he might offer to help later, since he had so little to do otherwise. 'Either way it will delay our leaving.'

'House Solidor has few members left. The emperor is an old man, and Vayne may well be killed in battle,' said Vossler. 'The tides of fortune could be crumbling Archadia's shores.'

'There would still be Lord Larsa, house Solidor will remain. And so, I fear, will Archadia.'

'There was a time when none knew that he was here but you. As eager as you are to destroy the empire, I am surprised you called for Basch so soon.'

Noah thrust himself away from the wall, his fists clenched. 'There is a difference between destroying a nest of wild cockatrice and slaughtering a chick. Just what are you accusing me of thinking?'

Vossler raised his hands. 'Nothing. As I said, you clearly never considered it. You are an honourable man.'

'My brother would disagree.' To Basch the difference between being willing to use nethecite against the empire and wishing to assassinate Larsa would be negligable, and his scorn was a hard burden to bear.

'He would be wrong.'

'Captain Azelas, Captain Noah fon Ronsenburg, Lady Ashe wants to see you in the conference room,' said a young soldier, arriving at their balcony. They thanked him and went to obey, with any luck they would hear what had happened to Larsa.

'Then the Emperor Gramis is dead?" said Vossler. This was the first thing Ashe had told them, and it was hard to imagine what could follow it.

'Yes. Larsa says he saw Vayne order the execution of a judge, Drace, who accused him of killing his father. She also accused him of murdering his brothers and of having designs on Larsa's life. Larsa himself believed it well enough to flee after what he had seen,' said Ashe.

'Vayne did this in front of his brother?' asked Noah.

'No,' said Ashe. 'Larsa seems well practised in giving his guards the slip. I think he was spying on Vayne at the time, although I doubt he sees it that way.'

'So Larsa seeks asylum with us. This is hardly a safe place for him,' said Vossler.

The sound of a strafing run outside emphasised his words. The punch of bullets shot hard enough to knock holes in buildings, and the distant cries of those too near them. The defence, constantly stretched thinner, had failed again.

'If we cannot leave we should resume our duties,' said Noah, distracted from the matter at hand by the cries of Rabanastrans they were not currently protecting.

'We must leave, time runs ever shorter,' said Ashe. 'Our message must reach Rozaria soon, they are the ones Larsa asks for asylum.'

'And we remain here until it is granted,' said Noah.

Ashe nodded. 'A few weeks, no more. I cannot do less than my duty.'

'You never have,' Noah replied and was answered by a warm smile, seeming to melt all the ice that had so recently enclosed her.

'Ffamran wishes to come with us when we leave,' said Ashe.

'As well, since he now owns part of your birthright,' said Vossler. 'Otherwise I would sooner do without him.'

Noah shrugged. 'He can shoot straight, and think straight also. And his airship is faster than any I've seen elsewhere.'

Ashe laughed. 'You should tell him that, it would cheer him greatly.'

'The skypirate's feelings aside, what preparations need we make?' asked Vossler.

'They are made. Work on mist techniques if you have time, otherwise get some rest. I will need you both in full health.'

'You will have us so,' promised Noah, to quick agreement from Vossler.

'Dismissed then, captains. I shall talk with you again soon,' said Ashe. The knights saluted and left.

The first week passed with little incident. Penelo was often by Larsa's side, joined by her parents at times. They were being compensated by the palace for the time they must take from working, but Noah suspected they would be relieved when Larsa was off their hands. Vaan, by contrast, had attached himself to Ffamran. He took Ffamran's claims to be a skypirate at face value, and while he was suspicious of Ffamran's tales of wild exploits he suspected exaggeration not complete fantasy. Ffamran, for his part, seemed glad of the attention as well as willing to take advantage of his admirer. Noah found Vaan painting the _Strahl_ while Ffamran watched. Vaan looked happy as a Giza rabbit.

'I'm going to be a skypirate when I'm older. Ffamran says I can join his crew,' he told Noah.

'Better than being a soldier,' said Noah. He leant against the wall next to Ffamran, Vaan looked far too cheerful to need any help, although Noah doubted the whole airship would ever get painted this way.

'I'm still going to be a soldier first,' said Vaan. 'Then I can be a skypirate after we beat the empire.'

'Perhaps,' said Noah, unwilling to quench such optimism.

'I know it's not that easy,' said Vaan, to Noah's surprise. 'But believing in it's got to count for something, right?'

'Faith never worked for me,' said Noah. 'I wish you better luck.'

'Only the weaker country need rely on faith, and it's a poor substitute for numbers,' said Ffamran.

'But if we all fight for what we believe in then at least we're doing something,' said Vaan. He turned to Noah, paintbrush dripping white paint on the paving slabs. 'You fight for Dalmasca, and I would too if you'd give me a chance. If Larsa's old enough to be the emperor, I've got to be old enough to fight.'

'Lord Larsa is not the emperor, his older brother is,' said Noah. 'And the position of emperor is quite different to that of a soldier.'

'But that knight said if Larsa died House Solidor would be destroyed,' protested Vaan.

Noah frowned. 'Who said that?'

'Your friend, his name's Vossler, I think. Last night I heard him talking to some other guys, he said Larsa was the final lynchpin of the empire.'

'Vossler said that?' Noah frowned. Vossler had, a week ago, said something similar to him. He had implied that without Larsa the empire would crumble, and almost accused Noah of wanting to kill him. Or had that been a suggestion? 'Where is Lord Larsa now?'

'Huh? With Penelo in the palace gardens, he wanted to show her a rare flower or something,' said Vaan.

'Take me to them, now.'

'What's the hurry?' asked Ffamran.

'_Now._ Lord Larsa's life may be at risk,' said Noah.

Vaan nodded and led them off at a run, although he looked puzzled as to Noah's reasoning. Ffamran followed with a sigh that suggested he was just coming along to see what the fuss was about.

The gardens were large, without Vaan they would never have known what part to head for. Noah half suspected he was being foolish, but the risk was too great to delay. Larsa should be under some kind of guard, but with his ability to slip away from surveillance who could say. And the foliage of the gardens would grant fine cover for a shot.

Larsa was with Penelo beneath an apple tree, the leaves casting spangled light across their faces. Noah paused out of their sight, there seemed to be no danger about the peaceful scene. Vaan continued though, running up to Penelo and taking both her and Larsa by surprise.

'Vaan, what are you doing here?' asked Penelo.

'It's not my fault, Noah said Larsa was in danger,' said Vaan.

'Did he say why?' asked Larsa, standing up.

A sharp whistle and splinters of bark flew everywhere. Once they realised it had been a shot they all burst into motion. Vaan pushed Larsa down, almost on top of Penelo, Noah ran to shield them and Ffamran ran for the bushes the bullet must have come from. The second shot came with Noah still only half way to the children, half Vaan's top was red in an instant. Ffamran levelled his own gun at the bushes, there was a frantic rustling but no third shot.

Noah flung himself to the ground before Vaan, he struggled to pull his own top off, thankful that he was not wearing armour. He pressed the wadded fabric against the wound, staunching it.

'Vaan, can you hear me?' he demanded.

'Yeah. It hurts,' said Vaan faintly.

'Good. Penelo, fetch a mage. _Go._'

Penelo nodded and obeyed, tears streaming down her face. Larsa went to follow, but Ffamran caught his arm.

'You're the one they were shooting at. She's safer if you stay here,' he said. Larsa turned back towards them and Noah saw the cut across his cheek. It was probably caused by a bark chip and did not go deep, but it was closer to the eye than Noah would have liked.

'Lord Larsa, would you let me look at that cut?' he asked.

'It's nothing,' said Larsa, looking at the barely conscious Vaan.

'A mage will get here soon,' said Noah. 'Let me look.'

'As you wish.'

Noah had Ffamran hold the fabric against Vaan's wound and stood up to check on Larsa. He felt Larsa flinch when he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, but Larsa did not pull away. The cut was further from the eye than Noah had thought, and although it was bleeding badly it was very shallow. Larsa was pale with shock, and the pain of the event seemed likely to scar although the eye would not.

'What happened here? I heard gunshots.' Basch's voice was both unexpected and deeply welcome. Noah turned to explain, and saw Basch stopped at the edge of the glade with horror etched on his face.

Noah saw himself suddenly through Basch's eyes. His hands were coated in blood. Vaan lay on the ground with his top soaked through with blood which Ffamran was trying desperately to staunch. He stood with his hands upon Larsa, there was blood on Larsa's face and some had trickled down onto his neck. With an oath, Noah strode from the clearing and away.


	9. Chapter 9

Noah had, in the end, gone to his quarters and it was not long before Basch followed him there.

'Ffamran told us what happened,' he said. 'I am sorry.'

'Good. Now leave me be,' said Noah. He was seated on his bed, and did not look up. Basch's shadow fell across him as he came closer.

'I wanted to apologise,' he said.

Noah shook his head. 'I no longer care what you want. Now go.'

'If you had been in my place and seen-'

'If I had seen you in such a position it would never have occured to me you were doing other than helping,' Noah interrupted.

'I'm sorry.'

'Stop apologising. If you do not trust me, then that is how it is. Being sorry changes nothing.'

'When, in the last fifteen years, have you trusted me? Since Nabudis fell you have been waiting for me to leave you.'

'That is not true!' Noah stood to face Basch, there was barely a foot between them and their eyes were exactly level.

'Do not deny it. You believe I will abandon Dalmasca.' Basch had never needed to raise his voice when he was angry, and he did not do so now. As always it made Noah want to shout in his stead, push things and see if Basch's reserve would break. He had a right to be angry, and now Basch was making it sound as if he was in the wrong.

'Wouldn't you? You do not believe we can win, you do not _want _us to win. You would sooner cling to your precious honour, as if there was no shame in abandoning Landis, that use the one thing that could assure our victory. For you there are always other lands, what's one more home left behind? But I cannot move on so easily as you, Dalmasca is the last home I will have.' Noah was shouting now, his voice had risen as he spoke.

'Then do not talk to me of trust. I have changed, even if you have not.'

'You do not seem different to me,' replied Noah.

Basch's eyes narrowed, but he walked out without responding. Noah sat back down, feeling hot with anger and shame. It took a while for the anger to fade, but once it had he realised he had not asked how Vaan was doing. He may as well find out for himself.

On the way to the infirmary he met Ffamran, striding purposefully in the opposite direction.

'If you're going to see Vaan, I'd leave it until later. There's a family quarrel going on in there,' said Ffamran. He didn't pause for longer than it took to speak, so Noah fell in beside him.

'What sort of quarrel?' he asked.

'Penelo's parents want to leave with her and Vaan, neither of whom wishes to abandon Larsa. I'm staying well out of it, myself.'

'Penelo's parents are right. I should never have brought them here.'

'I thought Larsa had.'

'They came for him, but I made the offer.'

'Not the brightest thing to do, but it would have been a poor look out for Larsa if you hadn't.'

No point in getting angry, Ffamran hadn't said anything untrue. They were coming to an open doorway onto the palace grounds, right into the gardens if Noah knew where they were. He paused. 'Where are we going?'

'I'm checking out a hunch, I don't know where you're going,' said Ffamran. 'But if you want to learn something, maybe you could come along?'

The glade where they had found Larsa earlier in the day looked mostly unchanged. They were approaching it from the opposite side, Noah could see the curved wall of a higher garden which had blocked him from view. There was a line of trampled bushes, two lines, between it and the clearing. Ffamran and himself, running to Larsa's aid. Ffamran walked over to the apple tree and, producing chalk from his pocket with a flourish, marked a large X over the bullet hole.

'Can you remember where Vaan was standing?' he asked.

Noah followed his own trail back to the wall and looked from there. He could recall the scene from earlier in startling clarity, like stained glass waiting to shatter.

'Two steps to your right,' he said.

'And Larsa?'

'Half a step left.'

Ffamran nodded. 'Could you come and stand where Larsa was? I'm going to get an assassin's eye view for a moment.'

Noah obeyed, a little impatiently, while Ffamran lowered himself into the bushes. 'There's quite a hollow here,' he said, disappearing from sight altogether. 'Please concentrate on where Vaan was standing.'

Noah obeyed, focussing on the spot he thought was Vaan's although it was harder to tell with his angle changed. Nor did it seem likely to help. 'Is there any use to this -' The whistle and crack of a bullet, about a foot and a half from his chest, caused him to swallow his words in shock.

'Gods cursed Archadian skypirate! I should wring your scrawny neck!'

'My neck is not scrawny,' said Ffamran calmly, rising from the bushes. The effect was a little spoiled by the leaves and twigs stuck all over him. 'And I think I've made my point.'

'You came close to shooting me. What point was that supposed to prove?'

Ffamran started brushing himself down, taking an infuriatingly long time about answering. Noah was seriously considering hitting him by the time he spoke. 'The shot was nowhere near you. Nor near Larsa either.'

Noah turned back to the tree, Ffamran's shot had hit the middle of the X prescisely. The original shot had been closer to Vaan than Larsa.

'So our assassin shoots poorly. That's some comfort, but hardly worthy of demonstration.'

'And the second shot hit Vaan.'

'He pushed Lord Larsa out of the way. It was a difficult shot.'

'It would have been an easy shot had he taken it before Vaan arrived.'

Noah paused, the assassin had been in the bushes before they arrived. Penelo and Larsa had both been easy marks. Why wait?

'He hoped that Penelo would leave,' suggested Noah.

'Why? If Larsa fell her first thought would be to go to him. Our man got away while I was standing over him with a gun. Penelo couldn't have caught him.'

'So what then?'

'I'm not so sure he was shooting at Larsa.'

Noah stared at him for a moment to be sure he was serious. 'What sane man would shoot at Vaan?'

'A good question, and not one I can answer. Perhaps you should ask Vossler, once Lady Ashe is done with him of course.'

'Lady Ashe is questioning Vossler? But he cannot be the one who shot. He would not have used a gun, nor would he have missed,' said Noah.

'Mmm. Guns aren't common in Rabanstre, are they?'

'Ffamran. If you have the slightest idea what you are talking about, then consider making it clear to me as well. I am fast losing patience with this game.'

Ffamran tapped the X marking with his index finger. 'Sorry. Nothing to tell.'

'Then I will go and find Lady Ashe, and you may find someone else to use for target practise.'

Noah left Ffamran inspecting the bushes and headed back to the palace. Vossler had not been the assassin, he might have done nothing more than talk carelessly in front of others not even planning to cause this. Noah wished he could truly believe that were true.

Noah found Lady Ashe standing in front of a cell, Vossler was inside it. He looked annoyed, but not afraid or guilty, and he turned to watch Noah's approach. Noah stopped to salute Ashe.

'Noah,' she said, coldly. 'I trust you have come to make your report?'

'Lady Ashe, if I have angered you then I regret it,' said Noah, wondering what he had done. Surely she could not blame him for the attack on Larsa?

'You failed to report to me after an assassination attempt on my guest. Nor did you remain on the scene to protect him, nor let anyone know where you had gone.'

'I was in my quarters, Lady Ashe.'

'I should not have to go and fetch my own knights to hear what I need to know.'

Noah saluted again, fist to chest, bowing his head. 'I am sorry to have failed you.'

'Report.'

Noah did so, telling every detail of the attack as he remembered it. Out of a mixture of concern and pique he stole Ffamran's thunder and reported his investigation as well. Ashe listened calmly throughout, Noah kept his eyes on her and refused to look at Vossler. Even so he finished with his reasons for thinking Vossler could not have been the one shooting.

'Dismissed,' said Ashe. She turned and walked away, leaving Noah standing by Vossler's cell. He watched her depart, upright and fragile as a lily.

'You are not the one she is angry with,' said Vossler.

Noah turned to look at him, the prison bars between them striping Vossler's face with shadow. 'I know. Vossler, what have you done?'

'I intended to recommend to Lady Ashe that we keep Lord Larsa as a prisoner. If Vayne were killed then we would have a hold over Archadia. I was looking for support among the knights.'

'Vaan said you spoke of Larsa's death. And do not tell me he lied, what reason would he have?'

'I spoke of that as a second possiblity, if Lady Ashe refused to hold him hostage. Execution would still gain us more than letting him go free.'

'And if Lady Ashe agreed to neither then assassination would be the remaining choice? He is a _child_.'

'And you are the one to tell me so.'

The two knights stood staring at one another. It felt like a duel, their words clashing on one another's defences. Look for a weakness, an opening.

'At best you are defying Lady Ashe's authority,' said Noah, testing for a reaction.

'I intended to speak with her before I acted,' replied Vossler, calmly.

'Not before you decided whether to act?'

'I hold her safety higher than her orders.'

'Her safety? You were protecting her from Lord Larsa?' said Noah, his tone incredulous.

'From Archadia. Lord Larsa in the hands of the senate would be a figurehead to continue conquest under. How much power do you truly think he would have?'

True, Larsa himself might easily be reasoned with. Any regent he was assigned was likely to hew closer to Archadian ideals. To Noah's mind this did not justify killing someone they had offered protection, but he could understand Vossler's view better than he would have liked.

'How much power does Lady Ashe have if her knights undermine her?' he tried.

'You do not ask her approval before you act.'

'I have never attempted to assassinate her guests.'

'No more have I!' Vossler stepped forward, standing almost against the bars. 'I speak of something I was considering, not a deed already done.'

'Then do you know who took your words as a suggestion?' Noah stepped closer too, almost hissing the words.

'No, I do not,' said Vossler. He looked straight out at Noah, still with all the pride of a Dalmascan knight. 'I intended only to protect Dalmasca.'

'I understand,' Noah admitted. 'Far better than I would like.'

Noah found Ffamran eating dinner and joined him there. The knights and foot soldiers eating there had avoided him, not out of malice but because he did not belong in any of their groups. He smiled at Noah and asked how finding Ashe had gone.

'She is angry with me for failing to report,' said Noah. 'I told her about your theory, but she has told me nothing of her thoughts.'

'Too bad, my thoughts are all over the place. He can't have intended to shoot Vaan to begin with, Vaan would never have been there if you hadn't realised something was up,' said Ffamran.

'So we are back to him shooting at Lord Larsa,' said Noah. 'Where is he now?'

'Under guard, and he's promised to stay there too,' said Ffamran. 'Vaan and Penelo are leaving tomorrow, if you want to say farewell you'd better hurry.'

'Will you miss Vaan?'

'A bit. Who else would believe all my stories? But there's no point in getting too attached to people when you don't know where you'll be tomorrow.'

'A skypirate motto?'

'A motto for life.'

Noah thought it could be, nobody ever truly knew where they would be tomorrow. But he had never been any good at not getting attached. Even Vaan and Penelo would be missed, they had been a bright presence in an increasingly hopeless situation. When he had eaten he would say farewell.

Vaan was asleep when Noah reached the infirmary. He looked very young, and the grey of the undyed wool blanket made him look even paler than he was. He was also alone, which was worrying after Ffamran's earlier conjectures. There were injured soldiers in other beds, but they too were sleeping and would not be much use if Vaan was attacked. It was not likely, but Noah pulled up a chair and sat down anyway, he could miss a night's sleep easily enough.

Vaan woke by degrees, screwing up his eyes against the light in the ward at first then gradually relaxing until they opened. The other patients in the ward seemed more able to sleep through the dawn, or perhaps they were held under by spells. Vaan looked up at Noah and smiled before looking puzzled.

'What are you doing here?'

'Ffamran had a theory that yesterday's assassin was aiming at you. I thought it best not to take chances.'

'Uh, thanks. Hey, I don't see Ffamran here.'

'I suppose he thought better of the theory.'

'Yeah?' Vaan looked mutinous for a minute before relaxing into a smile. 'It seems pretty unlikely, with all this royalty about who'd shoot at a nobody like me?'

'Hardly a nobody. I'd agree there is no reason to target you, but your presence has been a relief to everybody.' Ffamran had gained someone to talk with, Larsa an unquestioning ally. And for Basch, as much as for himself, they must have been a ray of light in a very dark time. Vaan and Penelo were all the things about Rabanstre that Noah most wanted to protect, brave, optimistic, resilient.

'You know I'm leaving tomorrow?' asked Vaan quietly.

'Yes, I shall be glad to see you safe. Remember we will not stay here much longer ourselves.'

'Where are you going? Ffamran won't tell me, nor will Larsa.'

'Lord Larsa doesn't know. And Ffamran is right, we cannot tell you.'

Vaan grinned. 'Told you I was a nobody.'

'It would be dangerous for you to know, and for us too.'

'I wouldn't tell.'

'Even under torture?' Vaan went pale and Noah regretted saying that at once. 'Sorry. It will not happen, you have nothing they wish to know.'

'I could come with -' Vaan began, only to be interrupted when the door flew open. A young soldier appeared there and saluted.

'Report to Lady Ashe outside in the east cell block, captain,' he said.

Noah went at once, and found both Ashe and Rasler in the cell block. Basch had either not been summoned or not yet arrived. There was a body on the floor in front of them, a knight. Face down and with the hair hidden under congealed blood it could have been anyone, but stepping closer Noah knew him.

'Klaur,' he said. 'What happened here?'

'We know not. Yet he was one of the knights set to guard Lord Larsa, and Lord Larsa is nowhere to be found,' said Rasler.

'Dead?' asked Noah.

'There is no body,' replied Rasler.

Noah bent over the body, the blow had been struck with a bladed mace and the whole back of the head was crushed. A blow from behind, an assassin's blow despite its crudeness. Knights should not die like this.

'I have spoken to Vossler, Lady Ashe, Lord Rasler.' Basch had approached from inside the cell block. 'He tells me that Klaur brought Lord Larsa to speak with him early last night.'

'To what purpose?' asked Ashe.

'To ask him of his connection to the assassin. He told Lord Larsa that he had none, and they left him quite soon. He was grieved to learn of Klaur's death.'

Ashe bowed her head. 'I fear Lord Larsa is dead too, this is the same as yesterday's attack.'

'It is, and as such I do not believe he is dead,' said Noah. Ffamran's theories came together with the body on the floor and he saw, now it was too late, why the assassin had never aimed at Larsa. 'Ffamran spoke to me before, he was convinced the assassin had aimed at Vaan. They must have wished to take Lord Larsa alive.'

'Vaan was not alone there, the assassin cannot have meant to take on three of you. And Ffamran held a gun,' said Ashe.

'Ffamran and I may not have been seen, Vaan ran ahead and entered the clearing alone,' said Noah, seeing the scene in his minds eye with the clarity of the sunlight it had taken place in. 'The assassin was likely hoping for Penelo to leave so he could take Lord Larsa without bloodshed, when Vaan entered talking of a threat to Larsa he acted before Lord Larsa could be placed under guard.'

'Then who has taken him?' asked Ashe.

Noah shook his head, feeling helpless. 'I do not know. Indeed, I have guessed this much only when it is too late to be of use.'

'He was to be delivered to the Rozarians,' said Rasler. 'That leaves our own people, or Archadia itself.'

'He was quite sure his brother wished to kill him, I wonder if he could have been mistaken,' said Ashe. 'I shall need to see Ffarman. But first I must see Penelo and Vaan.'

Ashe broke the news of Larsa's disappearance to Penelo and Vaan not unkindly, but with an icy dignity that both masked her awkwardness and prevented her words being much comfort. Basch stayed with them to attempt to offer greater reassurance. Penelo's parents might have been more comfort to their children had they not seemed slightly relieved that Larsa was gone from their lives so completely.

Afterwards Rasler was needed for a conference with his captains so Noah was the only one with Ashe when she saw Ffamran. They spoke in the outermost room of Ashe's suite, with Ffamran uneasily divided between treating Ashe as a queen and a travelling companion. He could add nothing more to his theories, and knew little more of Archadian politics than Ashe. Both seemed to feel that the fall of House Solidor could cause the Empire to crumble, but were divided on whether that would be a good thing. Ashe was thinking of Dalmasca, Ffamran of Archadians caught in a civil war.

Noah felt too tired to think of either. He thought of Klaur instead, an acquaintance more than a friend but still gone where he would be seen no more, and of Larsa alone and scared somewhere. Vossler in a prison cell, although he would be acquitted now. Vaan and Penelo going home safely, as if their home was any longer a safe place to be.

'So Vayne may have wished for an heir, if he expects to be in danger,' said Ashe.

'Possibly,' said Ffamran. 'It would be wise to keep his brother on hand, if so.'

Ashe nodded. 'You may leave. Both of you,' she said.

'Lady Ashe, if there is a traitor in the palace then I cannot,' said Noah, and Ashe looked at him with faint surprise then nodded.

'Stay then. I need to arrange for our journey, I will be doing nothing but paperwork.'

So Ffamran left and Ashe bent over her desk. Noah remained silent, feeling that his presence was irritating her. The sound of airships drew him to the window, although he stayed where the door was on the periphery of his vision.

Rabanastre was falling, slowly building by building. For a moment it looked so like Landis half way through the war that Noah felt himself in a waking nightmare and had to shake off dazedness to see what was really there. An Archadian ship flew in close to one of the roads that wound through the air around the palace, a much larger Rozarian vessel follwed it down and shot. The road, already damaged, cracked, men tumbling from it like tin soldiers knocked off a shelf as it crumbled under them. Landis had fought alone, and wholeheartedly. Rabanstre was under attack by allies as well as enemies, just a convenient excuse for a war between empires.

'Lady Ashe, might I ask a question of you?' he said.

'If you wish.' Ashe did not look up from her writing, and Noah could still hear the scratching of the pen.

'What does Rozaria think of our pursuit of nethecite?'

'I do not know, yet I doubt they would approve. They wish to take Archadia's lands as their own, not render them beyond habitation.'

'Then Al-Cid -'

'Was genuine in all that he said, or so I believe.'

'Did the Dynast King render lands beyond habitation?'

'The Dynast King knew what he was about, as we do not. If you have questions about ancient history ask a storyteller, and not me.'

Noah fell silent once more. Tales of the Dynast King were not what he had grown up with, he had very little idea of what was known. Normally he would have asked Vossler, a Dalmascan by birth, but presently there was little chance of asking Vossler anything. Or of asking Ashe any further questions, she was still angry with him it seemed. Best to wait for it to pass, he was her sworn knight before he was her friend and could not press her on the issue. Perhaps Basch was right that they had grown used to her allowing them to overstep their bounds.


End file.
